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Authentic
Art Journaling

L.K. Ludwig

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Contents
9 Introduction

11 CHAP TER 1 51 CHAP TER 3


Getting Started The Written Word
12 The Basics of Art Journaling 52 Incorporating Text as a Design Element
15 Taking a Closer Look: Katie Kendrick 54 Favorite Quotes, Poems, and Prose
18 Selecting a Structure 57 Visual Toolbox: Text onto Metal Mesh
21 Insight Activity: Unblanking the Blank Page 60 Personal Writings and Storytelling
22 Content and Meaning 63 Insight Activity: The Found Poem
24 Taking a Closer Look: The Deconstruction of 64 Visual Toolbox: Writing with Fluid Acrylics
Rothko, Bee Shay
26 Collectors, Thing-Finders, and Treasure Keepers
67 CHAP TER 4
28 Insight Activity: Pillaging the Dragon’s Hoard by
Using Your Good Stuff Current Events
29 Insight Activity: Automatic Writing 68 Everyday Events
30 Insight Activity: The Vision Deck 72 Insight Activity: One Hundred Versions
31 Insight Activity: Musical, Imaginary Alphabet 74 Insight Activity: The Calendar Journal
75 Taking a Closer Look: Traci Bunkers
33 CHAP TER 2 78 Personal Life-Changing Events
Relationships 80 Visual Toolbox: Adding Structured Texture to an
Art Journal Page
34 Family and Friends
82 Events with Global Impact
36 Insight Activity: Dropped-Paper Collage
83 Taking a Closer Look: September 11, 2001,
38 Visual Toolbox: Making a Stencil Portrait L.K. Ludwig
40 Taking a Closer Look: Maggie’s Baby Book, 84 Insight Activity: Abstraction
Nina Bagley
85 Visual Toolbox: Silhouette Figure Study
42 Childhood
46 Tributes and Remembrances

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87 CHAPTER 5 125 CHAPTER 7
Places and Spaces Spirituality and Dreams
88 Travel Journals 126 Faith and Spirituality
90 Visual Toolbox: Altering a Child’s Board Book 129 Taking a Closer Look: Loretta Marvel
91 Insight Activity: The Local Tourist 132 Dreams
92 House and Home 133 Insight Activity: Dream Characters
94 Insight Activity: Building Your Sense of Home 135 Visual Toolbox: Altered Scrapbooking Papers
96 Favorite Spaces
99 Visual Toolbox: Faux Landscape Painting Appendix:
136 Vision Deck
101 CHAPTER 6 140 Contributors
141 Resources
Self-Explorations
142 Acknowledgments
102 Self-Portraiture
143 About the Author
103 Taking a Closer Look: Juliana Coles
106 Photographic Self-Portraiture
109 Visual Toolbox: Photographic Self-Portraits
110 Visual Toolbox: More Than the Sum of Our Parts
111 Visual Toolbox: Ink-Jet Transfer
113 Visual Toolbox: Patina on Paper
114 Taking a Closer Look: Melanie Sage
116 Self-Portraiture Using Other Media
118 Visual Toolbox: Blind Contour Drawing
120 Visual Toolbox: Carving a Self-Portrait into
a Printing Block
122 Personal Archetypes

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Usurp an ordinary object for artistic purposes—a fork, perhaps. Bend the outside tines into a loop until
they touch the fork, then spread the two middle tines apart. Is this a fork or a flower? Anything can be
Introduction
Ten years ago, I began keeping an art journal out of necessity. I was
primarily a photographer, working in medium-format, black-and-white film, but a health
concern left me with vision problems.
As I recovered, I began searching for a way Teesha and Tracy Moore were publishing the
to work with my existing portfolio of images. now-defunct The Studio zine, and the idea of art
I found tantalizing tidbits of information on im- journals exploded. Since then, the work seen
age transfers of toner photocopies in alternative from gifted artists has only grown in sophistica-
photo process literature, Rauschenberg mono- tion and skill.
graphs, and references on the Internet and began I’m pleased to show you wonderful work from
working. I discovered Peter Beard’s work and artists whose names may be familiar to you and
then the work of Nancy Chunn and Tom Phillips. to introduce you to the work of some new artists.
About this time, a magazine article ran show- I hope you find, throughout this book, eye candy
casing the work of Janet Hofacker’s art journals, to excite you, creativity boosters to help you
and the original online group, “artistjournals” generate authentic art work, and techniques to
formed, shepherded by Loretta Marvel and me. add to your visual repertoire.

How to Use This Book


Each page of this book is packed with material a blank page, when you are looking for a place
to inspire you. Along with incredible artwork to begin, or when you simply need new ideas.
from some talented artists and guidance on Several gifted artists provide a closer look into

used. Think beyond the ordinary.


various common art journal themes, you will how they work or how a particular work devel-
find a journal prompt running down the right- oped. Even the Appendix offers inspiration:
hand side of each page spread. There is also a a deck of word cards to help you dig a little
fill-in-the-blank prompt or a question, related deeper; a bibliography for further research into
to the content of each chapter, posted on the information and techniques; inspiring artists;
bottom left corner of every page spread. The and information on where to obtain various
prompts are there to assist you when faced with art supplies.

“Artists don’t make objects. Artists make mythologies.”


—Anish Kapoor

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A
K
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c h a pte r
Art journal page by Katie
Kendrick (Read more about
Katie and her work on page 15.)

Use serendipity. When something you read or experience dovetails with important things in your life,
use it as topic about which to create. Messages from the universe should not be overlooked!
Getting Started
Just as a blank canvas can be daunting to a painter, a blank sketchbook
or journal can cause a creative pause for many artists. Where to begin? What medium to
use? How to proceed? Questions seem to breed more questions. Beginning an art journal
requires simply that you begin. But how?
The best way to begin work in a way that is the pages of an art journal. Although an art
authentic and worthwhile is to consider content. journal can be used to explore themes and
Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth content for other works, such as paintings,
living.” Artists are complex beings, and even the mixed-media assemblages, fiber arts pieces,
most mundane of us can find sufficient content or sculptures, an art journal is also a work of
to fill hundreds of art journals. Our daily lives, art in itself, serving as an artist book, regardless
with its blessings and travails, our relationships of whether or not it is ever shown to another
to other individuals and to the larger world, our person. The chapters look at themes common to
hopes, our nightly dreams, and even our spiritual almost everyone, and within these thematic areas
faith provide rich content worth exploring in an offer Insight Activities to spark creativity and art
art journal. journal prompts. Visual Toolbox activities provide
Each chapter in this book examines a category techniques, and Taking a Closer Look interviews
of potential content for the artist to explore in give you insight into how other artists work.

Using the Insight Activities


There are times, before beginning work on a project, of creativity. Sometimes, a few creativity starters
when we need a warm up, a process that allows us can help smooth the way to the “real” work; consider
to flex and stretch just a bit before we “really” begin. them stretching exercises for the workout to come.
Many artists find they begin by working the bad art Although each chapter in the book provides topic-
out first. The problem with this process is that the related activities, those that follow are general
results can be so disappointing, they stop the flow warm-ups for working our creative muscles.

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An art journal can take a variety of forms and is most frequently
contained on the pages of a book or a sketchbook or on loose pages housed in a
portfolio—for some artists, art journals are not contained in books but are seen

The as a sequence of individual works created over time. All have in common the spill-
ing of one’s self into the work in a way that chronicles or examines a part of the
journaler’s life. The definition of an art journal, then, is very flexible. Artists have
Basics a way of challenging boundaries and preconceived notions about both their art
making and their worlds.
of Art The basics of art journaling are about more than supplies—they’re about a desire
to examine, to challenge, to remember, to dream. For now, though, we’ll examine

Journaling the practical aspects of beginning an art journal, for there is a wealth of possibility
in structure and media.

Ruth Fiege—art journal spread


using repetition as tool for
exploration and emphasis

Rituals for beginning work are often very important to artists. What things do
you typically do to begin work?

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Start out on one subject and wend your way around to another completely unrelated topic using a series
of images copied to the same size. Start somewhere and end somewhere else.
Journal page spread by
Brenda Beene Shackleford

“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.”


—Pablo Picasso

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In these two journal spreads by


Katie Kendrick, her unique style
of rendering faces communicates
visual and emotional content.

WHEN we work is powerful. Time of day impacts mood, energy, and perhaps color
palette. At what time of day do you work most regularly and why?

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Map your path to work, the coffee shop, or the grocery store. Create an actual map, by drawing doodles of build-
ings, landmarks, squiggly trees . . . . Make the scale how long it feels to get to a place, not the actual distance.
taking a closer look: Katie Kendrick

Your journal, which is housed in a large, old atlas, is so rich and There is no thought about an end result, because if I planned
layered and, at the same time, very intimate. Would you tell us a things out in advance, it [the art] would be coming from my head,
little bit about your process of approaching a page spread? Is there not my heart. I don’t feel compelled to even date or order my
a thought-out plan? Do you respond to the work as it unfolds? entries, although I usually do. I’m not journaling to have a physi-
The only thing in my journal that is planned and consistent is cal, calendar-type record of my days, I journal to connect with
gluing four or five pages together, so that I have a strong, solid the dynamic flow of the universe, to try and understand the life
surface to work on. Intuition is my guide, as I play and interact force, the energy with my particular fingerprints, that is streaming
with materials I have within arm’s reach. My studio is always in a through me every moment I’m alive. The process of creating,
state of orderly chaos; what I have surrounding me partly depends not the outcome, is what takes me to the source, although the
on what I’ve been doing that day, or where I am. An element, end result, like a mirror, does reflect that creative energy.
image, or color always leads me to the next step in the process.

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“… I mean, making art is about objectifying your


experience of the world, transforming the flow of
moments into something visual, or textual, or musical,
whatever. Art creates a kind of commentary.”
—Barbara Kruger

C
What six or seven symbols and four colors can you use to represent an area of fa
your life with which you are having difficulty working in your art journal? w
fi

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colors as it changes over the course of the day. Try replicating these effects in your journal using watercolors.
Place 4” (10 cm) squares of white, cream, and gray paper in a well-lit room. Notice how the light affects the
Your art exudes, breathes, hums with creative energy. What are How do you keep your work so real?
some of the things you do to keep your creativity flowing? By listening to my own voice within the creative process and
Create on a daily basis. By this I mean moving paint around, doing that each time I experiment with the materials. Every day,
cutting paper, scribbling, and playing with various materials and that voice is recognizable as mine but slightly different. It’s not
media. It helps keep down the pressure to create a “masterpiece” unlike looking into the mirror each day—it’s me, but a slightly
and just feels like playtime. Although I love spending time with different version of me. I can admire another artist and wish I
family, friends, and other artists, I am an introvert by nature, could paint like him or her, but I must remain true to the longing
and I need lots of alone time. Without it, I become overstimulated to understand my own experience, to validate it and express it.
and full of thoughts and emotions that I’m unable to channel It would feel empty and pointless to deliberately copy or emulate
creatively. I have a rural lifestyle and take lots of walks in the someone else’s work or style. I would get no personal satisfac-
woods and by the river—nothing inspires my creativity more tion from that, and where is the joy in art making without that
than being in nature. Taking photographs and using them in my satisfaction? We all have our own stories, we are all on our own
artwork also stirs the creative juices. journeys; I don’t want to compare or judge mine, I only want to
get to know it as fully as I can.

Collage techniques with combinations of


fabric, found papers, and images, along
with her original drawings and paintings,
fill Katie Kendrick’s journal pages.

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Typically, an art journal is housed in a sketchbook, journal, or
hand-bound book. An artist might choose to work on separate sheets of paper and
later affix these sheets into a journal. An example of this is shown on page 85, in which

Selecting a working with figures is illustrated using a collage technique involving tissue or deli paper.
Another artist might also work on loose sheets that are housed as a collection in a ring
binder, portfolio, or box.
Structure Some artists like to work in an old book, covering the pages with gesso or paper.
Often, several pages are glued together to create a sturdy ground. They might cover the
entire page and begin with a blank surface or use the book’s text and imagery to provide
a spark and a jumping-off point. This differs from an altered book, in that the artist uses
the book as a journal, instead of using the book’s content to alter it.
Some of the artists whose work you will see in this book journal directly onto paint-
ings and other single sheet works; often these pieces are independent structures in a
series that challenge the viewer to see the content as a revelation of something personal
or a glimpse into the life of the artist.
You may need to “try several structures on for size,” to find the one that fits your style
of working. Don’t be surprised to learn that your preferred structure varies with the topic
you are exploring. A structure can also communicate content. The windowlike structure
of an old Victorian album housing images of places and spaces that have moved the artist
further reveals the content to the viewer. A child’s board book can be altered to create a
travel journal, as well as to communicate the joy and wonder the trip brought to the artist.
It would be impossible in the course of this book to detail all the different art media
techniques that can be used to create a journal. Acrylic paint, watercolors, water-soluble
oil pastels, crayons, colored pencils, dyes, inks, markers, and more can be used to add
color and texture to pages. Various papers, both found and purchased, can create surface
grounds and collages. Photographs are a wonderful way to incorporate personal imagery
and can be manipulated in a variety of ways.
Whether or not you integrate written journal entries into the visual journal pages
depends on your desires and what the page content calls for. In this book, you will see
examples of both purely visual work and art journal pages that have so much written on
them that the writing itself forms a visual element. Candy Jernigan’s and Peter Beard’s
works contain unusual elements that spill across the pages chronicling their lives. If
there is a way to make use of something in an art journal, artists will find a way to do it.
If you are new to art journaling, you may find the bibliography, on page 141, to be a
helpful resource.

Look at the type of art journal you typically use. If you were to try other
book structures, what two would you try?

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writing into the surface
Bridgette Guerzon Mills
inscribes her journal by

one in a series of works.


of this encaustic painting,

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Empty an anxious heart onto your pages. Clip, paint, snip, scribble, splatter, write. Don’t consider the
appearance of your page, just release your burden onto the paper. If this isn’t a page you want to commit

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to having in your journal, do it on scrap or deli paper.

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Drawing outward from a
photograph of a section of
a tree, Katie Kendrick uses
the tree as a focal image
that provides content and
as a structural element, to
hold her written journaling.

i
M



As an artist, what themes have you examined in your artwork and journals •
to date?

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Take an old book from your hoard to use as a new journal. Instead of using it the way it opens, turn it
Tip
If you have trouble starting without
a color, consider using a tinted gesso.
Alternatively, use magazine pages
with wide swaths of color to create
a work surface. Use a variation of
an ink blot technique by allowing
the submerged shapes on the page
to suggest what follows next. Include
a focal image with the scraps and
encircle it with texture.

insight activity: Unblanking the Blank Page 90 degrees and use it from that direction.
Materials 1 2 3 4
• journal, sketchbook, Tear the scrap paper into Using the gel medium, Using a wide paintbrush, Use the textured surface
pieces approximately 2 to adhere the scrap paper roughly apply a coat of as the ground for a journal
paper
3" (5 to 7.5 cm) by 3 to 5" pieces to your surface, gesso over the surface, page by adding more pa-
• acrylic gel medium (7.5 to 12.5 cm). Larger either randomly or in a allowing the texture of the per, photographs, maga-
• gesso is fine. You may wish to visually pleasing arrange- paper to remain visible. zine clippings, drawings,
crumple a few pieces, ment. Allow to dry. You can cover the scrap mark making, or paint.
• scrap paper—telephone before tearing them, for paper to create a uniform
book pages, newspaper, additional visual texture. color, or you can allow
scrap tissue paper, old some of the scrap paper’s
kraft paper or paper original color to remain
bags visible.

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Journaling is by definition personal, and art journaling is no exception.
Keeping a visual journal can be rewarding, reactionary, intimate, confessional, fulfilling,
cathartic, empowering, therapeutic, or pleasurable—but first and foremost, keeping a

Content visual journal is personal. Filling blank pages with imagery laden with personal mean-
ing is what makes art journaling, journaling. What we choose to show or hide, reveal or
conceal, tells a story about our lives, our art, and yes, who we are inside. Each page in
and our journals, good or bad, is about something personal—the content our own. Pretty
pictures and decorative pages devoid of deliberate content may indeed be pretty, but, as

Meaning Rothko bluntly stated, “There is no such thing as a good painting about nothing.” Perfect
techniques give you the means to create marvelous work, but the techniques are not an
end in themselves.
What we bring to bear on each page is the sum of our experiences. If it sounds
daunting, it isn’t. Each technique you learn, each skill set you acquire for working with
an artistic medium becomes part of your repertoire. Think of these as building blocks,
as vocabulary—words for your unique visual language. The various activities and guides
you use to develop original content become conversations you have had, pathways of
exploration you follow in your creative process. This vocabulary, these words, this
language, these processes give you ways of expressing authentic content. No longer are
pages pretty for the sake of being pretty or mysterious to simply be clever; your pages are
now pretty because they communicate an experience of beauty or mystery, as you puzzle
your way into revealing even more of your inner self on your pages.

“I
p
p
t
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What are the last six things you added to your stash? Where are they?

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Turn up the volume: go for brighter versions of the colors you were going to use. Whatever you were going to
do, do it bigger. Spill it off the page. Make it so big as to be unrecognizable. Make it so loud in color that
.

anything else is hard to see, or so black that it could be a cave. Bigger, bolder, more volume!
t

“It is a widely accepted notion among


painters that it does not matter what one
paints as long as it is well painted. This is
the essence of academicism. There is no
such thing as good painting about nothing.”

—Mark Rothko

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taking a closer look: The Deconstruction of Rothko, Bee Shay

Bee Shay’s Rothko journal conveys her side of a conversation My best work comes when I’m able to get out of my own way and
she had with her husband about his visit with friends to a Rothko just let it happen. o
exhibit. Expressed in visual terms, Her work deconstructs imag- c
Can you share with us your process? How do you begin? Do you
ery based on Rothko’s work, using Rothko’s deep commitment o
work in books topically, are they daily journals, or both?
to communicating human emotions in his work and, by doing so, E
affirms her husband’s right to his own opinion about Rothko and I have many journals running at the same time. Some are
deconstructs imagery based on the artist’s work, reconstructing topical, and some are daily types. I probably have ADD, although I
the images and demonstrating Rothko’s deep commitment to I’ve never been tested. My self-portrait journal is the only journal
communicating human emotions in his work. I ever started and finished in consecutive days. It took a month of
working nights, weekends, and whenever I could find a moment,
Your journals exude a feeling of connection with nature and a but I was driven to see it through, rather than following my usual,
calmness, even as they address challenging topics such as self- more casual, approach of not being concerned with the product
portraiture and relationships. Can you talk a little about how but more concerned about “the dance,” to quote my friend Shelley.
nature informs your work? Not controlling the outcome yields my best results, so I rarely
I’ve actually given a lot of thought lately as to why my work start with a planned result. I usually begin by laying down
tends to be so organic, and I think that the answer is relatively backgrounds on many pages, just to get my hands moving. The
simple. As a child, I was a relative loner, spending most of my things that are always right at hand are Rives BFK paper, gesso,
time entertaining myself in the woods behind my house (about inks, acrylic paints, and pastel pencils. I rarely cut, usually tear,
20 acres [8 hectares] worth) exploring, building fairy houses, and and I just love texture, so it almost always starts with texture and
collecting anything that wasn’t “nailed down,” as my father used moves on from there.
to say. The acreage was originally a bird sanctuary from the 1850s Color is important to the way you communicate, and I’ve noticed
until 1950, so it teemed with wildlife, as well. When I wasn’t in you work with dyes and paints in ways that communicate texture.
the woods, I was walking the shores of the Atlantic Ocean with Can you tell us more about your favorite ways to add color to
my grandfather or the beaches of Chesapeake Bay with my family. your pages?
I was always more comfortable with beaches, woods, birds, and Layers, layers, layers. That’s my rule. I painted with oils for
animals than people, and it’s a safe place for me to work from. fifteen years and learned that it was much easier to add than to
The calmness I feel when I’m “in the zone,” as my kids refer remove. Patience is the key. You can’t be in a hurry; you have to
to it, when I’m outside collecting, gardening, or photographing, wait for things to dry, or you’ll end up with brown everything.
happens for me when my hands begin to move, as well. They That’s probably why I work on several things at once, so while one
are the instruments, the tools, that my heart and head use. The is drying, I can still be working.
act of “making things” calms my spirit and lets the flow begin.

List five topics you could journal on right now:

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New journals can be daunting. Break in pages by dipping the book into a bowl of coffee, tea, or watered-
I am also a big fan of spraying and washes. They have a way some places, and obliterating text or images in others. It’s almost
of taking a piece that feels disjointed and giving it a finished like being on the beach and gleaning through the flotsam and
commonality that works for me. I rarely stop with one wash or jetsam left by the high tide. Once the thoughts are on the page,
one spray—it’s often five or six different shades of the same color. it’s no longer important to me that they are legible. I have gotten
Each layer not only adds colors but texture, as well. them “out,” and that’s the dance. I guess you could call this
The more I add, the deeper the piece becomes, and I like that. process of working constructive “deconstructionism.”
I like sanding back to reveal the colors that have been covered in

y.

down ink. Hold the book by the cover boards to dip. Fan open to dry.
e

“To us, art is an adventure into an


unknown world, which can be
explored only by those willing to
take risks.”
—Mark Rothko

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Many art journal artists work in mixed media, both in their journals
and in their individual artworks. Many of us are thing-finders, collectors, and trea- g
sure keepers. We never know what our next piece might call for, so we gather up s

Collectors, what appeals to us: old photographs, bits of tin, feathers, vintage textiles, and other
found and foraged treasures. We create a dragon’s hoard, a collection of fabulous
finds that we stash in our lairs and guard from harm.
t
w
I
Thing-Finders, There is a certain excitement that is generated when we acquire a found-object
treasure. When we look at the found object, we think, “Oh, wow! That would be

and Treasure great in….” “That would work perfectly for….” “I could use this in a piece on….”
Excitedly, we snap up our find and carry it back to our studio, where we admire
it, perhaps turning it over in our hands, and then we place it carefully onto a shelf
Keepers or a tabletop or into a drawer. Unfortunately, the creative energy generated by
the found object, all the possibilities for its use, and the excitement surrounding
the found object go onto the shelf or into the drawer with the object. We give up
the creativity to preserve the object, even though we obtained the object with the
intent of using it.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Tommy.


“I don’t know what you are going to do,” said Pippi, “but I know I can’t lie
around and be lazy. I am a Thing-finder, and when you’re a Thing-finder you
don’t have a minute to spare.”
“What did you say you are?” asked Annika.
“A Thing-finder.”
“What’s that?” asked Tommy.
“Somebody who hunts for things, naturally. What else could it be?” said Pippi.
“The whole world is full of things and somebody has to look for them.
And that’s just what a Thing-finder does,” she finished.
“What kind of things?” asked Annika.
“Oh, all kinds,” said Pippi. “Lumps of gold, ostrich feathers, dead rats,
candy snapcrackers, and tiny little screws, and things like that.”
—From PIPPI LONGSTOCKING, Astrid Lindgren,
translated by Florence Lamborn, The Viking Press, 1950. [pp. 28–29]

L
v
a
m
Make a list of all the media you use. Now list all the ways you use that media.
Pull out your list when you are stuck, to help you brainstorm how to begin.

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Glue an envelope to a journal page. Write a love letter to someone, perhaps yourself, tuck it inside and seal it shut.
This sort of self-defeating behavior has its roots in fear—fear of running out of
good stuff, fear of never finding another one, fear of ruining the object. And, while
some of these fears are legitimate, a certain amount of art making involves risk
taking. There will always be good stuff to be found, and the next treasure is always
waiting. Missing the opportunity to capture that creative energy is a true waste.
In other words, use your good stuff. There is always more good stuff to be had.

Liz Lamoreaux incorporates


vintage textiles and buttons
along with her poetry into her
mixed-media journal pieces.

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insight activity: Pillage the Dragon’s Hoard by Using Your Good Stuff

1 2 3
Head to your studio. Peer Choose four items to work Take a spare bit of paper Tip
into cupboards and poke with, either for a journal and jot down your ideas.
into drawers. or to incorporate into a Look them over. Choose This is an excellent activity to prac-
journal page. Be brave and the one that motivates you tice regularly. You can use variations
select items with which the most, and then begin. of this activity for any art journal
you feel an immediate or other project by perusing your
connection, things that stash with that project in mind and
make you think of pos- gathering a small collection of items
sibilities for use right away. in a basket or box. Add or subtract
objects as the project progresses.
Maintaining an interaction with
your collection of objects allows you
Melanie Komisarski’s jour- to keep fresh in your mind the cre-
nal spread uses a layered ative energy those objects generated.
paint background and
silhouetted plant images to
remind us all that nurturing
our souls allows us to grow.

i
I
o
u

M


What are your four most amazing stash items? Where do you store them? What
keeps you from using them?

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When using text on a page, give it visual punch by creating words that jump off the page through their
This journal page has
two layers of automatic
writing in the background.
I collaged a piece of Davey
board with printed tissue,
covered it with more
automatic writings, and
then further manipulated it,
by collaging and stamping
it with a textile stamp.

insight activity: Automatic Writing Tips


Switch colors or switch
If you have ever attended a drawing or painting class, you are probably familiar with the process to a different mark-
of automatic writing. In this exercise, we’ll let our mark-making material flow across the paper making material and
uncensored, and, to ensure that, some basic instructions are listed below. repeat the exercise. Use
this paper as a back-
Materials 1 2 4 ground for journaling
Take a sheet of paper, Find some way to keep Set the timer for two or as a collage element.
• paper
plain or otherwise, and time that you will not need minutes. Without looking
• timer place it, unobstructed, to check. Rather than down at the paper, begin

arrangement, color, or style.


• mark-making on a table. Select a few a watch, use a cooking to write about the topic.
material different mark-making timer, or even a song play- Don’t be concerned about
materials, based on your ing on your home audio legibility. In fact, writing a written, illegible mes-
personal tastes. For this equipment—something illegibly can actually be sage is intriguing to the
exercise, choose some- that will audibly alert you freeing, because, when viewer. Feel free to write
thing that moves easily to the passage of time you’re not concerned diagonally across the page
across the page, such as without your needing to about someone reading or extremely large.
a water-soluble oil pastel, be aware of it. your writing, you are free
a watercolor crayon, a to write all sorts of things. 5
hunk of charcoal, or even 3 Illegible text is also visu- If you run out of space
a china marker. Think about a topic— ally interesting, because before your allotted time,
don’t think about what you the loops and lines of turn the paper 90 degrees
are going to write, just writing provide a visual clockwise and begin again.
think about the topic. rhythm, and the idea of Repeat as needed.

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insight activity: The Vision Deck i
One resource that can be used as both an easygoing warm-up If you are using the Vision Deck to mine deeper for subject S
activity and as a way to mine for deeper content is the creation of content, then keep your topic firmly in mind when you choose a
a Vision Deck. A Vision Deck is a collection of single words to use a card. Follow the preceeding instructions, but generate your list
as prompts. A starter deck and some blank cards for you to copy of associations, relating the word to your topic. If you cannot M
onto card stock and cut out are located in the Appendix on page come up with any, return the card to the pile and choose another. •
136. Alternatively, you can use raffle tickets or small bits of paper. Now, as you examine your list of associations, pay close
Some artists use the cards in a deck format, shuffling and turning attention to your feelings—they are rich fodder for journal work. •
over a random card; others place them into a fishbowl or box and Some of the feelings may be expected, but often, you will discover
draw a card at random. content you hadn’t considered. Use these feelings to guide you
Single words are powerful tools for artists. As you ponder the into choosing various color palettes for your pages and objects, •
word, often multiple meanings come to mind, a mood begins to and ephemera from your collection to use in your work. The

form, perhaps colors or even shapes float to the surface. Pulling combination of materials on your pages, your color palette, and

a card from your Vision Deck can help you begin a page in your your content creates work that is rich in meaning.
art journal, and it can help you reach deeper into a topic already
underway.
To use the Vision Deck to begin a page in your art journal,
select a card at random. Place it flat on your table. Taking up a Tip
pencil and paper, jot down as many things that come to mind as Sometimes, trying to think of words
possible, without censoring. Allow your brain to free-associate. for your personal Vision Deck can
Once you feel you have exhausted that process, examine your leave your mind blank! Because
we are trying to avoid this, try the
list. What on your list intrigues, touches, disturbs, or distresses following two simple tricks.
you? Make a mark by each word association that sparks that inner Using a dictionary, quickly flip
“ping” when you read it. pages open at random and choose
Now, look at the associations that have moved you in some way. one word from each page spread.
If you are merely looking for a jumping-off point, choose the most Don’t think about it, just react. Or,
head to the hardware or paint store
interesting association and consider the mood the it generates, and collect a stack of paint sample
your feelings about that association, and even the colors generated cards. The paint color names often
in your mind. You might have to sit quietly with your eyes closed contain words that are evocative
to generate the colors. Some people find that the colors come with for an artist. Keep only the words,
the feelings. Use your colors to create a palette for your page. and either discard the color chips
or set them aside for another project.
(See the Dropped-Paper Collage
activity on page 36.)

List six words you can immediately add to your Vision Deck.

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insight activity: Musical, Imaginary Alphabet

Find one image or object that is the quintessential distillation of someone or some place you cherish and
Similar to automatic writing, the Musical Imaginary Alphabet activity is useful as
a creative warm-up and as a mark-making activity.

Materials 1 4 Tips
• bamboo calligraphy Select some music that Based on your emotional • Use colored paper or paper that
speaks to the mood of a response, use the cal-
brush has already been covered with a
topic on which you wish to ligraphy brush to make
• sheet of hot-press work in your art journal. alphabet-like marks,
wash of watercolor or ink.
watercolor, print- without actually using • If you want to make crisper marks
making, or quality 2 the alphabet. Allow your on the page, use an ink containing
drawing paper Cover your work area feelings to determine the a resin, such as Speedball Super
• music with newspaper, and lay faux alphabet shapes: Black India Ink.
your art paper flat. Place rounded, long, sharp,
• ink • These pages make gorgeous covers,
your ink in a container short, linear, wavy.
backgrounds, collage elements,
• newspaper that’s easily accessible
for dipping your brush. 5 and endpapers for journals. And
Cover your page with
because they bear a relationship
3 these marks. Think to your content, they add a layer
Start your music, and cuneiform writing, runes, of meaning to your work.
allow the feelings that the ancient messages, or
music evokes to deter- Asian syllabaries, as you
mine what comes next. allow your creative spirit
to work with the music
to fill the paper with this
mysterious text.

create a page that supports the image or object.

Journal spread by Carol Parks.

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M
th
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Observe children at play. Note how easily they move between fantasy and reality. Create pages that flow between
c h a pte r

Relationships
A well-used axiom states that no one exists in a vacuum; we are
connected to others through a series of relationships and have been since birth.
Simple biology dictates many of these built around the nature of relationships between
relationships, because we were each born with people. It is no wonder then, that the dynamic
two biological parents. Family, friends, teachers, nature of our interactions and connections to
neighbors, roommates, love interests, and life other people creates the most often explored
partners have intersected our lives and affected area in our art journals. We examine, explore,
our futures. The examination of relationships commemorate, and, yes, sometimes eviscerate
has provided inspiration for artwork throughout our relationships with parents, siblings, child-
history—art journaling is no exception. ren, neighbors, and lovers. We address failures,
Dozens of psychological theories and count- express fears and hopes, and record the very
less schools of philosophical thought have been nature of love in our lives.

the real and imagined.

“Man is a knot into which relationships are tied.”


—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Made to commemorate his son’s


third birthday, this piece by Joe
Ludwig incorporates text—things
his son says or enjoys doing—to
create the shadows and lines in
his son’s face.

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The process of art journaling about our most intimate relationships,
our family, and our closest friends can range from joyous to incredibly difficult,
Family and depending on the nature of that relationship and the art journal’s content. Most
of us can work easily, in a way that celebrates and commemorates our feelings and

Friends thoughts, but when the relationship we are addressing is difficult or painful, we can
find it difficult to bare ourselves in our artwork.

“We all grow up with


the weight of history
on us. Our ancestors
dwell in the attics of
our brains as they do
in the spiraling chains
of knowledge hidden in
every cell of our bodies.”
—Shirley Abbott

Corey Moortgat journals


onto her mixed-media
paintings, which are created
on panels of Masonite.

List the layers you’ve added to your inner child as you’ve become a grown-up.

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Keep an Altoids tin handy; snip interesting letters from your junk mail to sprinkle onto your journal pages
n
s.”

and store them in the tin.

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insight activity: Dropped-Paper Collage

Exploring family dynamics can be difficult and often leaves us


feeling exhausted or in need of therapy! If your art journal work
is leading you to explore difficult dynamics and you are having
trouble beginning, try a technique made famous by artist Jean
(Hans) Arp, who was associated with different art movements,
including Abstract-Creationism, Dadaism, and Surrealism. One
of his famous works, Collage with Squares Arranged According to
the Laws of Chance, was apparently created by tearing paper into
pieces, dropping them onto another piece of paper, and pasting
them where they fell.
For this activity, draw from your Vision Deck, to begin to
associate thoughts and feelings with your topic. Choose one
or two colors of paper to tear, as well as a color for your surface
ground. Your paper and your ground can be the same color, if
that is the palette that corresponds with your feelings. Then do
as Arp allegedly did and drop the torn pieces onto your working
surface, pasting them where they have fallen. You might find
this to be a sufficient background for a focal image or text, or
you may choose to work into the collage, marking around the
paper edge. You can also draw over the paper, perhaps with
automatic writing, while thinking of your topic.
Sometimes, a difficult topic may be rendered less so by the
use of symbolism—not to be cryptic and hide our meaning but
to find a metaphor with which we can approach our topic. The
metaphor provides distance, so that we can safely approach
painful, dark, or personal content, without feeling as though
we have exposed ourselves entirely. Use tarot cards, tales,
animals, trees, objects, geography—rivers, mountains,
and caves, for example—to represent yourself and others.

Friendship can provide a lifeline when you’re treading through rough waters.
List a friend who has been there for you.

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Tear up a collage that didn’t work and randomly glue down the pieces across a spread. Wash the page incompletely
with a light-colored acrylic, such as bone white, and begin anew.

This journal spread by the author is part


of a book exploring a difficult pregnancy.

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visual toolbox: Making a Stencil Portrait
The first step in making a stencil portrait is to choose a photograph to work with. Choose one that is
relatively simple or that can be cropped into a simple shot, such as a head and shoulders shot. Then,
using image-editing software, alter the photographic image to remove detail and create a simplified
black-and-white image that is ideal for cutting.
The following instructions are for using Adobe Photoshop to alter a photograph, so that it can be cut
into a stencil. Other image-editing software programs can also be used. In addition to referring to the
manufacturer’s instruction manuals and experimenting on your own, search the Internet to find tips
and shortcuts for using your image-editing software.

Materials To Alter a Photograph in Adobe Photoshop:


• photo or digital image 1 2 4
• computer with image- Use either a digital photo Under Image, select Then, also under Image,
editing software or an image that has been Adjust and then Auto Adjust, select Threshold.
scanned and open it in Contrast. You’ll see a slider to adjust
• card stock Photoshop. the Threshold Level. Once
• cutting mat 3 the image is to your liking,
• craft knife and blades Repeat and choose Auto print it onto card stock.
Levels. Make a reference print on
• glue stick plain paper, and save your
• white crayon image.

For Traditional
Stenciling: To Create the Stencil: S
• stencil brushes
1 2 3 4 1
• acrylic paint Examine your printed Before you cut away all In the event that you Test your stencil by giving A
image. You might need the white areas from your make a cutting error, it a spray with your spray o
For Spray Painting: to print more than one printed image, you will fit the piece back into paint. Do not use the v
• repositionable version and combine the need to be aware of how place. Glue on a piece of repositionable adhesive w
adhesive spray, two to obtain the level of the black-and-white areas discarded card stock—on on the reverse side at this s
such as Easy Tack detail you want for your join, so that you do not the top of the stencil, not time. Compare the results D
stencil. Use a sharp craft cut loose an entire area of the bottom—so that it to your reference print. If a
• spray paint knife to cut the parts you the face from the image. overlaps the stencil and you missed an area, it will
like from one card stock Be sure to look over the the accidentally removed be apparent. You may 2
print; using a glue stick, image and determine piece. Flip the stencil over have to go back and cut G
add them onto the other whether you have a to trim away the excess more from your stencil. If s
variation card stock print. section that must remain card stock from your the paint has obscured the r
You can create untouched, to hold the patch. cutting area, print another s
custom stencils for stencil together. Mark that copy onto card stock, cut e
area with a crayon, so you the missing section from n
text easily, without don’t forget. this new print, and, using u
all the craft-knife your reference print as y
work, by using a set a guide, glue this into s
of alphabet punches. place using the technique j
described in step 3.

Examine the relationships you have with four people; what symbols or metaphors
can you use to symbolize these people and your relationships with them?

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Make a photocopy of your palm. Head to the library and look up palmistry. Give yourself a palm reading and
Tip
Store your custom
stencils, treated with
adhesive, on a piece of
plain white computer
paper. These stencils
store well in a three-
ring binder with page
protector sheets.

In this piece, I spray painted three


stencil portraits, one of each of my
children, onto single piece with
a background created by spray
painting layers using stencils.

create a page about what your palm has to say. Are secrets there?
Spray Painting
1 3
Always work outdoors Shake the paint can
or in an extremely well- sufficiently, and, using
ventilated studio and a light hand, spray paint
wear the appropriate your stencil. A light hand
safety equipment. ensures that you will not
Disposable latex gloves have drips and globs of
are also helpful. paint. Spray in short
bursts and review your
2 work after each spray,
Give the back side of your continuing until you feel
stencil a healthy coat of it is sufficiently painted.
e repositionable adhesive
spray. This affixes the 4
edges, so that you do Allow the piece to dry
not have paint bleeding thoroughly in a well-
under your stencil. Place ventilated area. Lift
your stencil, adhesive stencil from image.
side down, onto your
journal page.

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taking a closer look: Maggie’s Baby Book, Nina Bagley
When I was pregnant with my second child, Maggie, I was having Nina, also a single parent, with her boys now nearly grown, was
a difficult time. I had complications with the pregnancy and was filled with compassion for the situation and with nostalgia for
separated from my husband. My friend, Nina Bagley, asked if she those babyhood days gone by. Nina asked if I minded her working
could make a baby book for Maggie as a gift. Could she! Ooh, the on some pages. Thrilled to be offered a gift of this beautiful origi-
anticipation! As my pregnancy progressed, so did our friendship. nal artwork, I said, “Oh, please, feel free—it is your book!”

a
w
p
Describe an ordinary summer day from your childhood. What games did you play? t
r
What did you eat? Who were your friends?
s
a
b

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In second grade, what did you want to be when you grew up? What other things did you want to be when you
grew up? Have you done any of those things? Do you still want to do any of those things?
g

Two weeks before the baby arrived, this beauty of an art journal The amount of detail in the book is astonishing; one must
arrived at my door. I took it with me to the hospital, and in those explore these complex, layered pages, by opening envelopes and
wee hours, holding that wee bundle on my lap, I turned those peering into pockets. These journal pages were thoughtfully
pages and felt we were loved. Each page is filled to the brim with created to communicate a sense of warmth and tenderness. The
touching, gorgeous, baby-and-mama artwork. In fact, Nina had to vintage paper ephemera, combined with the delicate, antique,
rebind it, because the book had become too large for the original floral shank buttons running down the vintage barkcloth spine,
spine. More than 3" (7.5 cm) thick, the book is so full, Nina added the vintage charms, the incredibly tiny text hammered into copper
a tiny blank book to the interior back cover for recording Maggie’s strips, and Nina’s tender writings, clearly communicate the
babyhood memories. artist’s thoughts.

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No other part of our lifespan seems to have as much significance
to us as our childhood, that time of exploration, learning, and new experiences.
Memories from childhood are unusually strong, and some seem almost imbued

Childhood with a special power to generate the same feelings we had when the original
event took place. We can remember sounds, images, emotions, scents, even
physical touch.
Exploring our personal childhood can be a roller coaster ride of both joy and
sorrow, but it is also an infinitely rich subject to examine in our art journals. Actor
Woody Harrelson is quoted as having said, “A grown-up is a child with layers on.”
Memories take us under the layers, back to places we have long forgotten or to
places we remember often. An art journal can serve as a place in which to work
without ramifications, to explore or exorcise difficult experiences, and enable us
to visually express feelings that no one need ever see or understand. Remember
that many treasured fairy tales, for all the sugar coating, were once scary and dark
tales. On a difficult day, we can travel in our art journal down the softly lit path of
nostalgic summer evenings spent catching fireflies and linger a while.
Childhood is an area for which few of us need prompts to generate topics; mostly,
we seem to simply need permission. Symbols and metaphors can provide a means of
entering topics we feel are difficult or that we are embarrassed to approach because
of their sweet tenderness. Problems with getting started often stem from a flood of
memories or feelings—by using your Vision Deck, you can narrow your focus to a
specific instance or thought.
Often, we are able to broach childhood in our art journaling after becoming
parents ourselves. Suddenly, we find that having children leads us to understand our
own parents more and, at the same time, understand them less. We are unabashedly
sentimental about, unstoppably tender toward, and unashamedly frustrated with
our offspring, as they grow from infancy to adulthood. Libraries and galleries could
be filled with art journals that examine childhood. From the worlds of dream and
imagination and the fiercely intense peer-group explorations to our interactions as
parent and child, there is much in the realm of childhood to explore.

“So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.”
—Gaston Bachelard

What children’s songs or stories resonate for you? Why?

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,
f

r
y

Journal page spread


by Juliana Coles

Try on different handwriting styles.

Melanie Komisarski’s daughters


play while she observes and records
them with love on her journal page.

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Karen Michel journals about her son
and the magic he works on her heart.

Tips
• Ephemera related to children, • Childhood mementoes and
toys, storybooks, reading primers, treasured teddy bears can be
and vintage textiles can serve as incorporated into pages! Objects
jumping-off points to explore any that won’t fit between pages
approach to childhood. can be photographed, and the
• Fairy tales and nursery rhymes photographs can be further
offer potent symbolism and manipulated or used as is.
metaphor for approaching work. • A favorite childhood book can be
• Music lyrics and verses from altered to create a potent journal
children’s songs and poems can structure, or the cover boards
offer structure, by exploring a removed and used to bind a new
verse per page. blank journal. Try eBay and online
used book dealers for a spare copy.

What five people have changed your life most significantly?

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Construct a page that interacts with the viewer. Try pull tabs, flaps, and small doors.
n
rt.

Tricia Scott’s writing, color palette,


and photography work together to
create a vivid visual whole.

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Death is a part of life. Regardless of how terribly overused
this phrase is, it remains true. You might find yourself working in your art
journal as part of the grieving process, expressing the tide of emotions and
memories to which you fear others have tired of listening. You might also
Tributes and create art journals to house memories about those who have touched your
life in a particular way, so that your journal becomes a tribute or book of

Remembrances remembrance. The timing must be right for this work. Fevered journal
pages upon which you pour your sadness and pain give way to more
introspective pages, as you work through your loss. While these pages are
often difficult to look at, even years later, the power they have to evoke this
visceral response tells you the work you have done in your art journal was
valuable for you.

Remembrances and tributes can be difficult to begin. Who might you


remember and why?

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“The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly
soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual
something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone,
and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost.”
—Arthur Schopenhauer

Prove you exist.

Amy Hanna created this piece in a work-


shop as a tribute to her grandmother.

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Remembrances offer a way to create art around people who were
special to us, to chronicle their lives and their impact on our lives.
Including personal ephemera, writings, signatures, textiles, and, of
course, photographs allows you to fully flesh out your pages. As you
work, think about your feelings, your subject matter, and the setting,
and use them to generate not only your content but your color palette,
allowing it to inform your technique choices, as well. Ask yourself some
key questions: What feelings led you to choose this content? What feel-
ings are you trying to communicate? What colors are associated with
these feelings? What are the colors in your imagery? Is there overlap?
If not, how can you connect these color palettes? Are there techniques
that support the communication of your content? For example, use
shiny transparencies and colorful collage for hopefulness, patina on
metal or aging paper for the passage of time, or paint layers sanded
away for nostalgia.

nonpermanent
use of keepsakes
There may be times you want to use precious
mementoes but hesitate to risk them by
attaching them permanently to a journal page.
• Use quality photocopies of letters and images.
• Consider using tea-stained or vintage paper
for copies of written documents.
• Take antique and vintage photographs to a
photo developing shop to have quality copies
made that look like the originals.
• Create pockets and sleeves in which to slide
mementoes.
• Use library pockets, page protectors sheets,
manila folders, or glassine envelopes to hold
treasures.

M
w
j

Draw a spider web and place yourself at the center. Make a list of your close
family members, friends, and colleagues. Place them on the web according to
where they are in terms of impact on your life.

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Collect doorways, or rather, images of doorways. Thinking about the nature of doorways can lead into some
interesting journal work.

Melanie Sage remembers


women from her past in this
journal spread.

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T

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c h a pte r

Tear a piece of newspaper or tissue into rectangles and strips. Adhere these pieces to your page with acrylic
The Written Word

medium. For additional texture, crumple the pieces before attaching them.
Art journaling allows us to fluidly move between art that is strictly
visual to art that combines visual elements and text.
Whether the text is incorporated into the Artists have often incorporated favorite quotes
background or used a focal point, text is a and words of power, poetry, and prose into their
powerful element, packing visual, as well as art journal pages. Personal writings, chronicled
narrative, content. events, and storytelling often find their way
Text can be applied to pages as a design out of our fevered imaginations and onto our
element, through the use of the letters as visual art-filled pages. Even imaginary alphabets place a
texture, not legible words—letters scattered visual rhythm on a page, and in turn, the rhythm
across a back-ground, for example, or sheets can tell a story. Sharp slashing marks speak
of grade-school cursive hand-writing practice. tersely of tension. Fluid strokes share a sense of
grace and ease.

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink,


falling like dew, upon a thought, produces that
which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.”
—Lord Byron, DON JUAN, 1819

Color, font choice, and


collage elements work
together to communicate
the dynamic state of
happiness described in
the quotation on Sarah
Fishburn’s art journal page.

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Automatic writings, random arrangements of letters, or layers
of words can be used to create a powerful background or focal content. The larger
Incorporating symbolism of the concept of language and words, of communication or the lack
thereof, can be expressed without ever using a legible word or phrase.

Text as a Legible text is also a visual design element, as any graphic designer will tell
you. While art journal pages are not constructed to advertise a product, you are
communicating content to a target audience, even if the target audience is just you.
Design How your text is used to create visual impact is something to consider. You may wish
to consciously place and use your text in a way that deliberately creates impact and

Element communicates something visually, not just literally. Balance or lack of balance on
a page communicates different things visually—harmony versus chaos or discord,
for example. Proximity of letters to each other and to other visual elements on a
page can be used to reveal our feelings. Tightly spaced text may speak to anxiety
or intensity, while loosely spaced text can slow down a visual reading.
Alignment, or the placement of text on your page, can lead the eye across visual
elements, creating a visual sentence to be read diagonally, from top to bottom, or
from left to right. Repetition creates emphasis, although this is true not just for
text but for any visual element. Contrast, or the lack thereof, can speak volumes
“Words, like Nature, half reveal or speak softly. These design elements can be added to your visual repertoire and
And half conceal the Soul within.” used to communicate content as yet another layer of meaning in your work.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson,
“Im memoriam A.H.H.,” 1850

Melanie Sage uses a variety


of found text elements on a
portrait page to communicate
her feelings directly.

List two books you’ve read that you’ll never forget and your favorite passages.

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Coat a page in wax and scratch marks or text into the surface. Rub graphite or charcoal into the scratches.
sh

Carol Parks created a series of journal pages, in which


the backgrounds are blocks of bold color and the text
in the blocks is written in either white or black gel
pen. Page after page in several journals is filled in this
way, and the text then dissolves out of focus, visually
becoming a strong, moving design element.

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Fill your packsack with tiny black sketchbooks scrawled with E
c
a quote on each page for safekeeping. Add everyday journals made fat with is

Favorite cellophane tape and snippets from magazine readings, hastily written excerpts
on napkins, airline boarding passes, and the occasional chocolate bar wrapper.
s

Quotes, Shelves of books can be stored inside the packsack, paper flags poking up
from the spines, each a reminder that some arrangement of words on that page
whispered something to the soul.
Poems, Art journals are marvelous repositories for treasured writings; quotes, poetry,
and prose can all can find their way onto the pages, marrying the visual elements

and Prose and speaking, whispering, and shouting the myriad things you work so hard
to say.

Powerful and direct,


Melanie Komisarski’s
journal spread uses text
as a design element
and is built around an
inspiring quote.

What writing would you hang on your moonlit clothesline?

“P

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Elizabeth Bunsen’s moonlit
clothesline and hillside page
is a repository for quotes
she wished to keep.

Folding pages adds new perspectives. Fold before starting, to create separate spaces. Fold after, to
s

create texture and dimension.

“Poetry is a packsack of invisible keepsakes.”


—Carl Sandburg

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In this piece, which shows my
daughter’s hand and a treasured quote,
I incorporated a variety of techniques,
including spray painting with stencils
and automatic writing. I had my daughter
rest her hand on a copier and used the
resulting image to create a mask from
contact paper.

The two most frequent ways I add text to a journal page: I use these two
methods of applying that text:

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visual toolbox: Text onto Metal Mesh

There are two easy methods for applying text to metal mesh. Method one—Stencils and Masks on
Mesh—makes use of vinyl press-on letters, alphabet stickers, and alphabet scrapbooking masks. Method
two—Stamping a Resist on Mesh—uses alphabet rubber stamps and a Versamark watermark stamp pad.
Both methods can be manipulated to apply images to mesh, as well as to text.

Materials Method One


(for both techniques)
1 4 5
• wire mesh in either Fill the spray bottle with Wearing your rubber Allow the mesh to dry,
copper or brass patina solution. Be sure to gloves, rest the mesh on resting on some grass or
• patina solution: have a water supply close some grass or in a tray, in the tray. Once the mesh

Save your doodles. You can enlarge and copy them to create interesting backgrounds.
Novacan Black for at hand. and spray the surface of is dry, remove the materi-
Solder and Lead, liver the mesh with the patina als you have attached to
of sulfur, Modern 2 solution. When you see the mesh. The patina will
Options Patina in Tear down your mesh to sufficient color change on continue to develop over
green or blue, or JAX the size you require. Mesh the mesh, rinse the mesh the next hour or so. Once
will tear, just like fabric. in your bucket or with the it has developed, spray
patina solutions
hose. both sides of the mesh
• spray bottle 3 with a clear spray paint.
• rubber gloves Apply the stickers, letters,
or masks to the mesh,
• water supply, such as burnishing them down
a filled bucket, garden firmly.
hose, or utility sink
• plastic tray, box, or
grassy area
• clear spray paint
For Method One,
Stencils and Masks
on Mesh, you’ll need:
• vinyl stick-on letters, variations
alphabet stickers, or
alphabet scrapbooking Commercial Stencils glue them onto the contact paper, and then
masks You can use all sorts of stencils and masks cut them out again. Adhere the cutouts to the
with this technique. Plastic commercial mesh and proceed as previously described.
For Method Two,
Stamping a Resist on stencils sprayed on the reverse side with
Magazine Images
Mesh, you’ll need: repositionable adhesive can be adhered to
Anything you can clip from a magazine—a
• rubber alphabet stamps the mesh and then sprayed with patina
person, a tree, a dog—can be adhered to the
solution. These make gorgeous backgrounds.
• Versamark watermark mesh with regular spray adhesive. Add text
stamp pad You can combine small stencils and text to
or other elements, spray with patina solution,
create a page or focal piece.
and follow the instructions described above.
Contact Paper
Leaves, Ferns, and Other
Contact paper can be used to cut custom
Natural Items:
stencils and masks. Think of masks as
Adhere relatively flat natural materials to the
silhouettes. You can draw your own shapes
mesh, using regular spray adhesive. Apply the
onto the contact paper and then cut them out.
patina solution and follow the instructions
Or, use a photocopier to enlarge shapes from
described above.
books or drawings, cut them out of the paper,

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Method Two
1
Stamp text onto mesh, using
the Versamark stamp pad
Allow to dry.

2
Wearing rubber gloves, spray
the mesh with patina solution.

3
Once the desired level of
color change has been
reached, rinse the mesh
with water from a bucket or
garden hose. Allow to dry.

4
After an hour or so, treat
both sides of mesh with clear
spray paint.

variations
Rubber Stamps
You are obviously not limited to alphabet
rubber stamps. Most stamps will work for
this process, although extremely detailed
stamps will lose some detail.
Printing Blocks
Hand-carved printing blocks, made from
linoleum block or the new, easier-to-use
carving materials, can be used to create your
In this journal page, I used a own designs for application to mesh and
magazine image as a silhouette,
vinyl text, and natural items other printing processes.
from my yard as masks.

Make a list of your favorite quotes. Consider what they are attached to, as
journal page topics.

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your odd ideas, not just those that are art-related. Now choose one, two, or more and make pages about them.
Vagary. Despite its naughty sound, a vagary is a whim, an odd or eccentric idea. For one week, collect all
Calligraphy, collage, and
hand-sketched details
create a page balanced
between text and image in
Sandra Hardee’s art journal.

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Many artists are also poets, storytellers, observers, and recorders.
For some of us, our written journals are quite separate from our art journals. However,
Personal something magical happens when we allow our writing to inform our art. Whether
we are communicating written content and echoing the feelings or sentiments of that

Writings writing with our art, or juxtaposing our art with our written thoughts, somehow the
work becomes something more, something larger, as if a collaboration has happened.
Anaïs Nin wrote, “The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are
and unable to say.” Our written words allow us to say what we are unable to say with our
artwork, and our art communicates where words fail.

Storytelling Storytelling with text and art on our journal pages is an inventive way of approach-
ing content. Storytelling also allows for a bit of detachment, because the story we
have to tell can be told in the third person or as if it happened “long ago and far away.”
Creating characters to represent persons we do not wish to identify allows us to exag-
gerate, highlight, or eliminate to enhance our story. The richness and depth of the
story is in the presence of art and writing.

“And by the way, everything in life


is writable about if you have the
outgoing guts to do it, and the
imagination to improvise. The worst
enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”
—Sylvia Plath

What do you look at every day? Is any of it written words? List the reading
materials you peruse daily.

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Attach all the loose items—gum wrappers, receipts, stubs, to-do lists—from your coat pockets or the bottom of
your handbag to a page in your journal. With a piece of charcoal, make marks all over this page. Spray with
,

workable fixative and use as a starting point for a journal page.


Nikki Blackwood created
this piece in one of my
classes; it tells the tale
of a husband, a wife, an
affair, and a child.

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i
S
T

M




Artist Loretta Marvel searched among her


ancestors to explain her and her sisters’
artistic natures. Finding no one, she cre-
ated a tale that imagines a hidden artistic
ancestor. She wanted to both explain her
unquenchable desire to paint and address
the sense that perhaps being an artist wasn’t
encouraged as a career path in her family.

Make up a fairy tale right now. Don’t think too much! Who are the characters?

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insight activity: The Found Poem

If your pages are typically neat or open looking, assign yourself the task of creating five messy pages.
Sometimes startling in their beauty and insight, found poems are relaxing to create.
Two ways of creating a found poem follow.

Materials Version One: The Paper Bag Poem Version Two: One Line at a Time
• newspaper or magazine Clip apart the words from a brief magazine or Choose an article from a newspaper or magazine that
article newspaper article and toss them into a paper bag. has as many lines as you wish to have words in your
• paper lunch bag Pull the words from the bag one at a time and lay them poem—a ten-line article, for example, to give you a
out on a table. Rearrange them at will, and then paste ten-word poem. To really enjoy the process, try for a
• scissors your found poem into your journal. twenty- to thirty-line article. Clip the text into individual
• glue stick lines. Working one line at a time, consider the words
in each line and snip one of the words of that line. Glue
• journal spread
them onto your journal page, in order of discovery.

If your style is typically loose, assign yourself five cleanly designed pages.

For this journal page, I applied text using a ruling pen,


then added a found poem cut from pages randomly
removed from a typing instruction manual and silhouette
figures. The background was created with successive layers
of fluid acrylics; the last two layers of color were applied
using a wood-graining brush from the hardware store.

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Brenda Beene Shackleford created
a small series of mixed-media
paintings that incorporate small
poems, completed simultaneously.

visual toolbox: Writing with Fluid Acrylics


Adding handwritten text after using acrylic paint can be problematic, because many pens and mark-
ers will not write over a glossy surface. Sometimes, the piece calls for something other than markers
or paint pens, and the softer look of a crayon is insufficient for what the artist is hoping to accomplish.
One way to add handwriting is to use a ruling pen and fluid acrylics. Ruling pens are available at and
stores that sell art and drafting supplies—try craft and office supply stores.

Materials 1 3 4 5
• fluid acrylics Squeeze some fluid Using scrap paper, test Once you have the paint Write onto your painted
acrylic onto a dish. the diluted acrylic. If it suitably diluted, load the surface using the ruling
• cup of water Dilute slightly with water. doesn’t flow, add a few pen again. Practice writing pen. You may find you
• small dish more drops of water to on some scrap paper. need to begin on scrap
• paintbrush 2 your paint mixture. If it paper and then write on
Dip the paintbrush into flows out quickly, add your painted surface to
• ruling pen the diluted fluid acrylic a bit more paint. prevent puddling on the
• scrap paper and apply the paint to the initial strokes.
opening of the ruling pen

What fonts do you prefer to use? List them and why you like them.

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Kelly Rae Roberts considers
her paintings journal entries,
because her writings are part
and parcel of each one.

work were they exposed to? What poetry was written then? What were the current events? What were the
Pick an artist in whom you are interested. Research the time period in which they lived. What other

dominant colors in paintings? Fashions? Create a visual research journal.

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c h a pte r
Melanie Komisarski remembers
the sorrow of September 11 in
her journal.

Create an antitravel journal. Create pages for places you NEVER want to go to again.
Current Events
The phrase “current events” might remind us of school days when
we reported on the happenings from the daily newspaper and the nightly news. However,
journaling about the current events in our lives can provide the most constant source of
rich, personal content.
Think of current events on three levels—the produce at the market—are the fabric of your
Everyday Events, the Personal Life-Changing life and are worthy material for art journaling.
Events, and Events with Global Impact. Everyday Personal life-changing events don’t need to be
events are the stuff life is made of: sipping tea defined; we know what those are. Delving into
in the mornings at the kitchen table, commuting the joys and sorrows that make up the rhythm of
to the office, driving the children to school, life provides a way of honoring those times and
stargazing at night, and everything in between. a way of making art with deep personal meaning.
Everyday events include spying the red-tailed Use your art journal to explore your reactions
hawk on his tree perch on the interstate roadside and emotions regarding the birth of a child or
and wondering if he is hunting the ubiquitous grandchild, the loss of a loved one, a change in
rabbits and chipmunks or the ubiquitous auto- careers, or a move across the country.
mobiles wending their way north and south Events of global impact include our responses
each day, like beads on a string. Everyday events to things that touch us from the news. Whether
include the gratitude you feel for the safety of we are responding to the daily newspaper,
your own life when you drop coins into a hat evening news, twenty-four hour news channel,
of a homeless person on your way to the subway. or news bites from the Web, we can describe our
The mundane everyday events—the arguments feelings about what is happening in the larger
or lovely dinners with your spouse, the worries world in our art journals.
and joys of parenting, even the colors of the

“Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.”


—Michel de Montaigne

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Our admiration for powerful art journal pages about dramatic events
can lead us to believe that our everyday experiences are not worthy of gracing the pages
Everyday of our art journals. In other words, we are saying our lives are unworthy of our own
attention. Yet, as artists, we find beauty, mystery, and emotion throughout our day.

Events We spy leaves swirling up from the ground in the wind of an autumn day, follow the
stark lines of a tree divested of leaves in the winter, peer into the face of the woman
who rings up our groceries, smile along with the toothless grin of a baby who loves us,
or vent our frustration at collecting yet another set of socks from the living room floor.
Art journals can chronicle the ordinary, or they can explore the moments when the
ordinary seems to transcend.

Elizabeth Bunsen celebrates a


birthday in her art journal.

What everyday events do you visually record in your journals? Which ones do
you always record?

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make a copy. Cut up the copy and use it as a template for clipping your images to fit into the quilt spaces.
Create a quilt of images and words on pages. Decide on a quilt design, sketch it out on scrap paper, and
s

Piece your quilt together and glue it down in your journal.

Lesley Riley combines image,


fabric, and fiber to express the
feelings of welcome, wonder, and
love she felt during her presence
at the birth of her granddaughter.

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Tracie Lyn Huskamp’s
color-rich daily journal page
chronicles the first day of
fall and the impact of the
changing colors of leaves on
the trees. By using unusual
color, the oft-remarked-upon
change of the seasons is
given vibrant energy.

Make a list of the ways you can reflect the seasons in your journals.

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Tell a more complex story by superimposing one image over another using transparencies and packing tape
transfers, or by layering image transfers to accomplish this depth.
Using images of a house
toppling into the ocean,
Diana Trout explores a
need for balance, in this
art journal spread.

“It’s surprising how much


memory is built around things
unnoticed at the time.”
—Barbara Kingsolver, ANIMAL DREAMS

Sandra Hardee captures


one Sunday using ink,
watercolor, photography,
and text.

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Carla Sonheim’s pocket-sized journals are
first filled with watercolor paintings, typically
of interesting characters. She then journals
directly onto the background area. Sometimes,
as in the case of the moose spread (above),
her son, Wes, joins her in art journaling.

insight activity: One Hundred Versions


Choose an ordinary object: a bowl, a sock, a blank book, a pen, to your object. Use the name of your object and create a page
something very ordinary. Then, set about recording this object using text as a design element. Make a self-portrait of you with
one hundred times. Photograph your object in a variety of settings your object. Create an image in your journal in which your object
or in the same setting but at different times of day, as the light fills the page, and another in which your object is very small.
changes. Photograph your object with similar objects, and then You needn’t reach one hundred, but the act of examining your
with unrelated objects. object in as many settings and media as possible will allow you
Sketch your object in ink, in pencil, in crayon, in watercolor. to see how truly unordinary the ordinary can be.
Re-create it using torn tissue paper. Create a collage in homage

Where do you work on your journal? Why?

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Flip a page with which you are not satisfied upside down or sideways and work on it from that direction.

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insight activity: The Calendar Journal
Using a journal to which you can add or rearrange pages, such as a a montage or mosaic depicting your week, distill your week down
portfolio or ring binder, create one page per week for this journal. to one feeling or experience, or simply respond to your week visu-
You might find that you have created several pages for a given ally without planning on a single page. The pages will comprise a
week, but only one can be chosen for this journal. You can create visual record of your year, and the results may surprise you.

t
Y
lo
c
a
a
a
Leighanna Light created this calendar
journal. In this spread, she deals on
one page with new growth and future
t
planning, while the other expresses t
her feelings of unhappiness in a toxic
work environment. v
le

t
d
T
o
What two things can you do to prepare, so that you can journal more
I
frequently?
ju

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A xenolith is a fragment of rock imbedded in another rock. Create a xenolithic artwork.
taking a closer look: Traci Bunkers
Your work is so honest and real. Being fortunate enough to different than when I started. I never work with any preconceived
look through your journals, I noticed your work is made up of idea of what the finished journal spread will look like.
conver-sations with your inner self, unspoken prayers, visualiz- I find myself working more in my journal when I’m down or
ations, and requests from the universe or a higher power. Are you dealing with things than when I’m happy as a clam. The rea-
able to tell us more about your way of approaching your journal son for that is that working in my journal is what helps me get
and your style? through those times, and it helps me to figure out what I need
I pretty much just do whatever I feel like doing, or what “needs to do—whether it’s making a business decision or a personal
to be done” at the time. And whatever happens, happens. I’m not decision. As silly as it might sound, I have learned to become my
trying to make “art,” so to speak; I’m just expressing myself. I’m a own cheerleader in my journal, and it has really shifted things for
very emotional person, and working in my journal is a perfect out- me. I have done a lot of inner work through visual journaling and
let for me. Sometimes, I just start painting background colors, or with affirmations, usually combining them.
“gluing [stuff] down,” as I call it, without any concern for finding As far as the conversations, I have them in my head all the time.
the right image or color. Other times, if I need to get something They change from normal thoughts to unspoken conversations
down before I have any background work done, I just get it down. with people when I’m mulling something over, figuring out a
Then I add the color and what-not later, working around or on top solution or action to take. So, it carries over into my journaling.
of what I journaled, whether it’s visual or just written. It gives me a voice to express things to someone or to a situation.
I do a lot of layering, sometimes covering up images or text. If And that’s also where my inner cheerleader comes out. I went
I don’t get a spread finished, and time goes by, I either leave it or through a pretty traumatizing experience in 2006 and found
just start adding to it the next time I work in it. By the time I feel solace in my journal. I believe journaling about it helped me to
“finished,” there is usually a lot going on, and it looks totally deal with it and come out stronger.

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Y
D

i
m
g
w
I
o
o
i

T
o
s
a
m

m
s

Traci Bunkers’ multilayered,


intense pages, dense with imagery
and content, examine both her daily
life and larger personal issues.

Whose voice is the voice that is ongoing in your head?

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Your pages are so visually rich, dense in both imagery and text. I read somewhere, on your blog perhaps, that you curl up in bed
Do you have a typical way of beginning pages? and journal. How do you organize yourself to do that?
I’m a big fan of gesso! I usually gesso a spread before I work on You probably read an article I wrote about making art in bed.
it, but it just depends. I used to always use old printed books for Yes, I love my bed, and so I love doing things that I love in my
my journals, and I’d work on top of the existing text and images, bed, like working in my journal. It’s easier than you think. You
generally gessoing them to tone them down and make a ground to just have to keep an eye on the pets that hang out in bed with
work on. At the end of 2006, when I was ready for a new journal, you! The main thing you need is one of those breakfast trays, the
I made a new book to work. For the pages, I used a wide variety kind with the legs on them. It’s the perfect size for my journal, or
of papers: watercolor, brown rosin paper, and pages removed from whatever else I want to work on. I put other supplies on old metal
other printed books. So, I’m still working over existing text and serving trays. I usually put the water container on the nightstand.
images most of the time. I just like doing that. One thing I love about the tray is I can just pick the whole thing
I pretty much always have a headline on my journal spreads. up and set it next to my bed when I’m done for the night, or fold
That happens without my thinking about it—I think it’s part the legs down and put it under the bed. That way, I don’t have to
of the conversations I have in my head. It also probably has clean up right away, and it’s ready to go.
something to do with getting my degree in graphic design. I am You can’t go crazy when you work in bed, though, because
also an avid photographer, and I like to use my own images in you don’t have all of your “stuff” out. It’s a good time to practice

Embed a fragment of a past work into something you are working on now.
my work. I’m an old-school photographer—meaning I shoot on limiting what you use. I also have some of those little organizer
film, and I do it with old, funky cameras! I use the actual prints in totes to put my supplies in. They work great for working in bed,
my journals. I figure better to have them in my journals than just and they help stop the horizontal spread that always happens
sitting in boxes. when you work.

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We know these events: birth and death, marriage and divorce,
illness, recovery, trauma, and achievement. The pages in our art journals and, often,
entire art journals themselves, are filled with what these events bring to us. While
I could wax philosophical and say we learn from the difficult things, in reality, we
Personal survive the trauma, and our journals give us a shoulder to cry on or a door on which
to pound in frustration. We can celebrate new chapters in our lives, and trumpet in

Life-Changing a new arrival with great joy. Thomas La Mance is credited with the famous quote,
“Life is what happens when we are making other plans.” None of us would choose
the difficult times, and even a planned-for, long-awaited birth of a baby can still
Events take us by surprise with the wonder and amazement the event brings.

Tina Abbott uses manipulated


photographs to communicate
energy and joy in her expressive
journal pages.

What are the three largest inhibitors to your working in your art journal?

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Never pass by a photo booth! Take the person with you into the booth, too.
e

“There’s a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out.”
—Lou Reed, “Magic and Loss”

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Carol Parks turned to her art
journals during her journey
through the darkness of cancer.

visual toolbox: Adding Structured Texture to an Art Journal Page


Adding texture to pages obviously increases the page’s visual interest level. Adding content to the tex-
ture by using a mask adds meaning to yet another level of your artwork.
A mask is the opposite of a stencil. Masks are available commercially at scrapbooking supply stores
or online retailers. You can make your own mask out of blank stencil sheet, or any thin, stiff plastic. A
manila folder can be used, but because art media will adhere to the surface, it isn’t necessarily reusable.
Punchinella, or sequin waste, can be used, as can a variety of items from your yard, such as ferns, leaves,
or feathers. Treat the back of your homemade masks with a lightweight, repositionable adhesive.

Materials 1 2 3 4
• Delta Texture Magic Apply the mask to your Knead the tube of Texture Using a palette knife, Slowly lift the mask off
page, and smooth it Magic and squeeze a little spread a thick layer of your page. Allow the page
• acrylic craft paint down. Leave a tiny part onto a shallow dish. Mix the Texture Magic paint to dry overnight.
• masks of the mask hanging paint directly into the Tex- mixture over the mask and
over an edge, or plan to ture Magic in a 1:1 ratio. the area you wish to cover.
• palette knife leave a small corner of it Wash your palette knife.
• previously prepared clean—you will need to
page (collaged, painted, use a clean section to lift
drawn on, or other) the mask off your page.

Right now, in our world, the following is happening that reaches right in and
gets me in my gut:

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Notice the effect of the light on various colors. Try to replicate the effects you like in your journal work.
Collect images with qualities of light that you find attractive from art, design, and photography magazines.
I used Texture Magic and
several masks to create a
textured image over a book
board collaged with various
papers and then painted with
fluid acrylics.

r.

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Natural disasters, such as the Asian tsunami of 2004 and t
Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and frightening events, such as the London
bombings in 2005 and the events of September 11, 2001, have been chronicled O
on a personal level in countless art journals. The arrival of the new millen- c
Events with nium, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the fall of the Berlin Wall are
past events remembered in art journals. Global warming, the Darfur conflict,
to
im

Global Impact earthquakes, drought, famine: these human tragedies of the largest scale find
their way onto our pages, as we try to find ways to express our grief and sorrow,
our outrage, and our hope for the future.
M
m
la
d

“Wherever a man turns, he can


find someone who needs him.”
—Albert Schweitzer

Elizabeth Bunsen responded to the


shootings at Virginia Tech with an art
journal spread that communicates
healing and hope.

List two global events from the past five years that you followed in the news.

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taking a closer look: September 11, 2001, L.K. Ludwig

Pull the covers off of magazines from each month of the year. Back each with sturdy paper and visually
Originally intended to be a resource sketchbook for paintings for a commute. No one knew what would happen or if we were safe.
course I was taking, this sketchbook ended up as a visual reaction Billboards suggested that residents store bottled water, canned
to my fears and worries as a person and as a mother in the days food, and duct tape to seal our windows. We were frightened. I
immediately following the tragic events of September 11, 2001. had to travel to Amherst, Massachusetts, by plane three weeks
My instructor suggested that I submit the sketchbook as part of after this infamous day, and I was both comforted and unnerved
my final portfolio for the class. Where we lived, we regularly saw by the armed soldiers in the airports, something we are rather
large army helicopters and planes patrolling the sky, and, sud- accustomed to now.
denly, army vehicles were visible on the highways during my daily

journal on the blank paper side. Bind a year’s worth into a yearbook.
For these journal pages,
I used newspapers from the
days immediately following
September 11, 2001. I applied
the papers to the surface
before beginning work and
used the papers again to
create collage elements.
The stark colors were applied
using acrylic paint, tinted
gesso, and Speedball Super
Black India Ink.

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insight activity: Abstraction Tip v
Wassily Kandinsky said, “I value those artists who embody the expression of their life.” Keep a shoebox or file W
folder of figures torn
Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky began the formulation of a new form of visual language in the 1920s from magazines, news- u
that eventually became known to us as abstract expressionism. Abstraction is more than merely making papers, and books. O
art that isn’t a direct representation of something (nonrepresentational art). Far from being meaningless
shapes or blobs of color, abstraction attempted to express emotions in their truest, most reduced, form, M
solely through the use of color and shape. Kandinsky was committed to the expression of the spiritual in •
his work, saying “That is beautiful which is produced by the inner need, which springs from the soul.”
Sometimes, particularly when working with emotionally charged material, abstraction is an excellent

method of communicating the power of a moment and defusing the autobiographical nature of that mo-
ment, to create a more global experience.

Materials 1
• image or photograph Begin with a blank page, or
cover a page with the artistic
of relatively simple
media of your choice. Choose
composition
colors that align with your
• scrap paper, newsprint, feelings about the image with
colored tissue paper, which you are working.
sewing pattern paper
• acrylic medium 2
Examine your image. Identify
• china marker the dominant shapes in the
image. If the process is
difficult, outline the broader
shapes of the image with a
china marker and eliminate
the details.

3
Now, using your scrap paper,
tear approximate versions of
the dominant shapes in your
image.

4
Using acrylic medium, paste
these shapes down in an ap-
proximation of the dominant
images. Perfection is not
key—communication of the
sense of the original image is
the goal.

5
Continue to work the image
with other media, as needed.

What was the last global news event you followed? Why?

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visual toolbox: Silhouette Figure Study

Create an abstract or nonrepresentational image of yourself. Create you, in code, perhaps, or from clipped
Working with figures is often integral to communicating what we have in mind. However, many of
us haven’t yet developed the drawing skills to render a figure in a way that says what we need to say.
One way to incorporate figure is by using silhouettes.

Materials 1 2 3
• figures clipped from Choose figures with If you want to use the If you want to use the Insert into your page as
clean lines, until you feel figure in the direction it figure in the opposite appropriate to your art.
magazines or news-
comfortable clipping the is positioned, cover the direction from which it is Continue to work with
papers
figure down to the lines back of the image with currently positioned, first images as desired.
• scrap or decorative of human proportions on your chosen papers. Turn clip out the figure. Glue Alternatively, you can use
paper your own. it back to the front and the paper to the front of freezer paper, shiny side
• glue stick trim the excess paper the figure, then flip and up, to cover your work
from around the figure. trim around the silhouette. surface and a sheet of
deli paper as a ground.
Paint, stamp, and collage
onto the deli paper and
integrate your figure into
this piece. Then glue the
finished sheet into your
journal using gel medium.

images, gestural marks, or a series of colors.

This journal page incorporated


a figure with visual elements
clipped from a newspaper.

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C
c
to
th
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th
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c h a pte r

Add history to your travel journals by purchasing vintage souvenirs, postcards, photographs, and books from
your journey’s location. Antique shops and eBay are the best sources for these kinds of ephemera.
Places and Spaces
Location is everything, the adage states, and, as artists, we take
notice of our location—its light, color, texture, and shape.
We travel to places near and far, spend time memories, and dreams all surface in response
absorbing the beauty of nature, and ponder the to location. In turn, they can become content
implications of house and home. Our art journals for our art and ripe for exploring in the pages
become a record of our explorations, a repository of a journal. More than simple geography,
of our musings about the places and spaces in places and spaces can be thought of in terms
which we spend our time. We are often chased of travel, nature, nostalgia, and memory—of
by memories and inquire about history. We things that we may have lost or things we may
feel our surroundings, as much as we see them. have found.
Thoughts, feelings, sketches, imaginings, hopes,

“How hard it is to escape from places. However carefully one


goes they hold you—you leave little bits of yourself fluttering
on the fences—like rags and shreds of your very life.”
—Katherine Mansfield

Color, font choice, and


collage elements work
together to communicate
the dynamic state of
happiness described in
the quotation on Sarah
Fishburn’s art journal page.

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I adore looking at other artists’ travel journals: the colors they
record, some neatly in swatches, others scattered wildly throughout; the moods their
Travel pages evoke; and the details that leave me hanging on every scrap of information. I
peer into these wonders, examining sketches and smiling or quirky photographs,

Journals and get a vicarious thrill. Travel journals are charged with the energy of discovery
and are often created with the idea that they will be looked at again and again.

Rhonda Roebuck’s Wroxall


Architecture journal makes
use of a book structure that
complements her content.

“Wandering reestablishes the original harmony which


once existed between man and the universe.”
—Anatole France

What place holds the most memories, history, and power for you?

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Come out of your shell. Create a page using shell imagery around the skills, talents, dreams, and desires you
ir

think no one recognizes in you.

Sarah Fishburn’s art journal record


of a three-week summer road trip is
colorful and stuffed to the gills with
art, ephemera, and experiences.

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visual toolbox: Altering a Child’s Board Book Tips
If you cannot close your
A child’s board book is a sturdily constructed, yet compact, book structure that lends itself well to book, you can separate the
traveling. Preparing some pages goes a long way to giving you the ability to journal on location and pages and bind the book back
to capture the dynamic energy that true travel journaling creates. Artist Minnie Helvey made such a together when you return
journal to use on a trip to Italy, with gorgeous results. home.
You may want to collect some
Materials 1 3 ephemera and vintage imag-
• child’s board book Sand the book covers and an individual flap. Fold a Cover the pages and ery before your trip by doing
page surfaces to remove section of the top edge manila folder pieces some searching on eBay. Look
• sandpaper the glossy surface. of each piece over about with scrapbooking for reasonably priced vintage
• decorative scrapbook 1" (2.5 cm) to form a tab. papers. postcards, travel guides, and
paper; some patterned, 2 Align the folded edge with photographs. Pack this baggie
some solid colors, or To create a flap on the the top of the page and 4 full of goodies into your suit-
with a worn layered- page, cut 3 to 4 pieces glue just the folded piece Travel!
case with the tiniest amount
paint appearance of manila folder that are to the top of a book page.
The bottom edge should
of art supplies.
slightly narrower and
• manila folders slightly longer than your either line up or be shorter Attach some of the flaps along
• glue stick book’s pages. You will than the bottom edge of the bottom edge of your book
use each piece of cut your book page. for variety.
manila folder to create

i
I
a
d
H
w
C
T
flap closed flap open s
d
b
o
List all the places to which you have traveled in your life. s

w
t

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Sew loops into the spine of your journal from inside the signatures and hang things from these loops.
Syd McCutcheon created this shaped
Day of the Dead journal.

insight activity: The Local Tourist

If you have no plans to travel to a distant land full of exotic color kit: watercolors or water-soluble crayons, a brush, a small bottle
and sound, yet your fingers itch to record an adventure, do not of water, a permanent extra-fine-point marker, a glue stick, some
despair! Become a traveler to your hometown. Pull out the map. scissors, and your camera. Now, spend the day eating, looking,
Have a good look. What’s within a two-hour drive? What is right shopping, laughing, and admiring. Be surprised by doorways,
where you live? Are there small towns with quaint shops nearby? columns, steam grates, and manhole covers. Slip menus and
Country roads with old barns painted with Mail Pouch Chewing business cards into your traveling bag or pockets. Surreptitiously
Tobacco signs and fields full of dairy cows? Does your park boast photograph the locals, yourself in front of landmarks, and even
sculpture or monuments? Is there a city with a museum within your lunch.
driving distance? Are there weird or hokey displays that certain At the end of your long day, head back to your lodgings. Put
businesses hope will be tourist attractions? Interesting skylines your feet up. Sift through your ephemera. Peek at your photos.
of tall buildings and millions of lights? Billboards and marquee Spread everything out on your luxurious bed, and, with glue stick
signs? Strange shop signs or street graffiti? and scissors in hand, water glass and watercolors at the ready,
Your assignment is to spend a Saturday being a tourist right begin a few pages. Then, just like those who have traveled far from
where you live. Although, like many travelers, you won’t complete home, go back home to your studio, print out some photos, and
the pages until you are back in your room, pack a traveling art make use of your supply stash to make some more pages.

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Thoughts about house and home can be much like a Dickens novel; there are
the memories of a home long past, there is your present home, and there is the dream of your
House future home. In addition, there are the memories you have of family homes long past and those
dreams you had as a child of a future home. Your present home can be looked at as the home

and that it truly is or as the home you try to make it. Although it seems slightly schizophrenic and
even more than a little confusing, generally speaking, we carry a lot of thoughts
about house and home with us.
Home House and home imagery is extremely enchanting.
Think of the antique postcards created by itinerant
photographers who traveled through towns, photo-
graphing people standing on their front porches or
seated in their yards, often with chickens running
around. Picture the mothers, still in aprons, with
their babies in their arms, standing out in front of
their domains. There is something romantic about the
apron-clad, baby-on-the-hip lifestyle, with clotheslines
and chickens. However, the practical person remembers
the way chicken coops smell and the wonders immuni-
zation has done for infant mortality. (I wear aprons, and
I certainly have a baby on the hip, but, alas, no chickens,
and I buy prepared mashed potatoes to serve with my pot
roast. Don’t tell.)

“Never make your home in a place. Make a home for yourself


inside your own head. You’ll find what you need to furnish it—
memory, friends you can trust, love of learning, and other such
things. That way it will go with you wherever you journey.”
—Tad Williams

What does the home inside yourself look like? What does it look like inside?
Outside?

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e

Finish a page that you left unfinished.


In an exchange with her
friend Julie Madsen, Tracie
Lyn Huskamp has created an
opening spread to greet you
with imagery that evokes a
country home.

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i
O
This journal spread shows b
work from Julie Madsen (left) r
and Tracie Lyn Huskamp
(right) which communicates d
thoughts of home and heart a
across the miles.

c
c
a
c
t
b
m
a
a

If you were a tourist in your town or area, what should you see?

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insight activity: Building Your Sense of Home

We have habits in our art. Take a look at your last journal. What did you do a lot of? What do you wish
On a piece of scrap paper or on a page in your journal or sketch Develop a color palette for each room. What colors suit your
book, draw a loose house shape: two straight lines topped by the memories, your emotions? What was the quality of the light? List
roofline. Then divide your house in half crosswise and then in half two colors for each room.
down the middle, so your house has four rooms. Add one last line You now have sufficient material with which to make an art
across to form an attic. journal around the concept of home. You may find that your
In the bottom left room, list things you remember from your collection of objects in your studio or home fits neatly into your
childhood home. On the top left, list what you wished your “rooms.” Look through your decorative papers and ephemera, and
childhood home had been—the dreams and imaginings you had you’ll undoubtedly find pieces that speak to the colors and feelings
as a child. On the bottom right, describe your current home, the you described.
colors, feelings, and favorite things that say home to you. On the Consider moving forward to make a book. A child’s board
top right, describe your dreams about the home you wish it might book can be cut or an old book altered into a house shape. Listen
be, not just physically but emotionally. In the attic, where old to your inner voice telling you about other things as you work:
memories typically go, describe any nostalgic thoughts or ideas sibling and parental relationships, family secrets, quirky stories,
about a home you had, one you might have imagined from long humorous anecdotes. Jot them down for safekeeping or include
ago, or one that belonged to a grandparent. them in your art journal.

you’d done more of? What is missing entirely?

In another page spread from


the journal exchange between
Tracie Lyn Huskamp and Julie
Madsen, Julie incorporated a
piece of vintage quilt, bringing
another touch of home to
her work.

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We arrive somewhere we’ve never been, yet every cell in our body
screams, “You are home!” It could be the light, the scent of the air, or the feeling of the
Favorite breeze. Perhaps it is the architecture of the local houses or the shapes of the trees as they
climb up a mountainside. We belong in this place, and our sense of belonging is primal,

Spaces as if we were born to be here. We return as often as we are able, and we spend the time in
between visits planning how to get back there. Perhaps we even consider relocating
to this place.
Invariably, being the magpie collectors that we are, we bring back trinkets and
mementos—sticks, stones, shells, photographs, souvenirs—and keep them like talis-
mans we hope will transport us back to this place once more. Often, art journals about
these places will span time, sometimes chronicling decades of travel to and from them.
If visited frequently enough, they appear regularly in our art journal pages. Across these
pages, we watch children grow up and friendships mature into deeper things or pass by,
as some friendships must.
These places vary as widely as people do; they are beaches, mountains, farms, resorts,
coastal villages, and metropolitan meccas. Sometimes, our place only exists during a
brief period of time—a retreat or a conference, perhaps—where the people present create
an atmosphere that feels like home. A place this special need not be thousands of miles
A triptych, done by Bridgette away; it can be a local park, a favorite camping spot, a place you have visited since child-
Guerzon Mills in encaustic, has
writing embedded in the wax
hood. What matters is the sense of belonging, the feeling of having arrived home. As
surface of the painting. David Whyte said, “There is no house like the house of belonging.”

What’s your favorite place in the world?

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“You can fall in love at first sight
with a place, as with a person.”
—Alec Waugh

stem of your wristwatch, the knob of a door, and re-create it visually in your journal.
Zoom in on something—an object in your house, perhaps. Select just a part of it: the

This triptych of travel journal


pages by Brenda Beene
Shackleford includes both
landscape and detail.

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Artfest, an art retreat held annually at Fort Worden M
State Park, in Port Townsend, Washington, holds
special significance for a number of artists. It’s •
known as a place in which you can be surrounded
by 500 people who are very much like you, yet
totally different. Bee Shay, like many artists, keeps •
a yearly Artfest art journal to record this special
place that exists only for a few days each year.

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What places have you fallen in love with at first sight?

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visual toolbox: Faux Landscape Painting
This technique lends itself to book covers, single-sheet pieces, and portfolios.

Attach a strip of fabric along the edge of a page by running it through your sewing machine set to
Materials 1 2 3 4
• quality ink-jet print of Glue the ink-jet print to Using a paintbrush that Using a palette knife, While this gel is still wet,
a landscape your book cover or other is as soft and as wide as apply the acrylic gel use your palette knives,
surface using acrylic gel possible, apply a coat of medium to the photo. rubber color shapers,
• book board, Davey medium. Cover it with Golden GAC 500 across Use a heavy hand and polymer clay tools, and
board, or mat board waxed paper or plastic the surface, to seal the apply a relatively thick paint brushes to create
• flat paintbrush that is wrap and weigh the print ink. Be gentle, and do coat. The coating will be your faux painted surface.
very soft and wide down as it dries. Allow it not press the paintbrush white but will be clear Work with the content
to dry completely before into the surface. You do when completely dry. of your landscape, and
• glossy acrylic gel proceeding. not want the ink to smear. create knife and brush
medium Resist the urge to work strokes, swipes, and
• Golden GAC 500 this coating. Allow it to dry shaped marks, as if
(acrylic polymer) completely. you were painting the
landscape.
• palette knives, paint-
brushes, rubber color 5
shapers, polymer clay When satisfied, allow the
tools piece to dry completely.
This could take as long as
48 hours, 72 hours if the
humidity level is high. Do
not disturb the surface
during this time.

I incorporated this faux


landscape into part of a
Tip journal page.
If you are using high-
quality, matte ink-jet
photo paper, you can
simply apply a thin coat
of gel medium, instead of
Golden GAC 500, because

a decorative or zigzag stitch.


the ink will resist smearing.

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c h a pte r

Self-Explorations

To infuse your journal with scent, scorch some pages with your favorite incense.
A line of thinking suggests that each and every piece of art an artist
makes is self-portraiture, because the artist is sharing her unique perspective or, more
romantically expressed, a piece of her artistic soul. Some would argue this is merely the
nature of art.
Self-portraiture, then, is the process in which treatment of the work, the setting, or the media
the artist sets about rendering an image of used. These are choices ultimately made by the
herself. In the process of creating a self-portrait, artist, to express something the artist wishes
the artist becomes also the subject, collapsing to express. Self-portraits become exceptionally
the distance between artist and model, between interesting, because the way in which the subject
creator and creation. When an artist creates a wishes to be viewed becomes part and parcel of
portrait of a person, the artist has a vision in the artistic process. Self-portraits can be fascinat-
mind for that portrait. The person may or may ing and often extremely revealing.
not have any direct input on the context or

“Your work is to discover your world and then with


all your heart give yourself to it.”
—Buddha

Juliana Coles’ work is unabashedly,


unapologetically autobiographical.

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Self-portraits are important for art journalers to consider for
several reasons. First and foremost, a journal is autobiographical by definition.
Self- Including self-portrait work allows us to record how we saw ourselves, or how
we felt about ourselves, at a moment in time. We may not be able to see ourselves

Portraiture clearly at that moment; only when we look back at our art are we able to see what
was going on. Images of ourselves advance this process.
Another reason for considering self-portraiture is that we are frequently not
happy with our appearance, even when others tell us we are beautiful. Being able to
make images of ourselves that feel strong, real, or attractive, is important. Knowing
how to make an image of ourselves gives us more freedom to make images of others.
Having been on the other side of the camera lens or
canvas, we are better able to encourage our subjects
to speak visually.
There is a power in self-portraits that all artists
should own for themselves. You needn’t share
your self-portrait work, unless you feel so moved.
Sometimes, I have found my most powerful
self-portraits to be the riskiest and not attractive,
but nonetheless, the power in them is important
because of the honesty involved. If I am working
on self-portraits during a difficult time in my life
and I look “picture perfect” (although I never do),
the meat of what I am exploring is missing.

t
Juliana Coles creates
J
a personal tarot card a
on this journal page.
h
o

We all suffer the slings and arrows of life, and sometimes we get bruised and
wounded. List these times. What did you avoid adding to your list?

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Use an old phone book as a mark-making journal. Scribble on one page each day for a few minutes, using
.

charcoal, or pastel. No object drawings, just marks.


taking a closer look: Juliana Coles
Juliana Coles’ art journals go deep and stay there; they are intense Could you share a little bit about the Western book you turned into
and can be difficult to look at, yet they reach straight for your an art journal?
heart. Her workshops, which she teaches nationally, work to help This is one of my most recent and favorite books, The Little
other artists do the same. Naked Cowgirl, an altered Western book turned visual journal. It
marks a huge growth in my existence on this planet, and I turn its
pages with tenderness and compassion. To me, the visual journal
is a combination of words and images for self-introspection, not
one or the other; it is work in tandem.

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It is said that “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” List four to six ways
you can work your art journal pages to examine this idea. Try to range from
direct interpretation to subtle interpretation.

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You have a strong sense of self-awareness and this communicates obligation to ask questions; this process of active meditation is
clearly in your journals. Could you talk a little about your philoso- how I ask questions. Most of the time I don’t even know what the

Make a photocopy of a photograph of yourself and, using pastels, paints, chalks, or colored pencils, make
phy of art journaling? questions are, but my book always knows, and I must be patient
Whether we admit it or not, in all of us lies a deep pain—some and have faith in the process.
disturbance, loneliness, heartache, grief, memory, remorse; some The extreme journal is the container, soul home, or witness-
weight, fear, or feelings of unworthiness, unloveability, emptiness, protection program and not some proving ground. There is no
fakeness … you get it. My extreme visual journaling practice is a place here to show the world what a great artist I am or how nice
desire to know these deep and tender shadow places, to give them and pretty I can make everything, so everyone else can feel fine.
voice, and to heal and transform them. In these dark recesses lie I am what I am, when I am. Silly, cute, raw, angry, frustrated, sad,
my greatest gifts. I don’t want to hide them; I want to reveal them! fierce, frightened, drowning, and rising—all just pieces of me, no
The extreme journalism process I have developed combines better or worse than any other part. I won’t leave behind or reject
words and images for self-dialogue and enables me to create what is integral to my being. This is how I got here. My pages are
communication with my higher self, to access healing. This is a place of safekeeping and honor, in which I transform my inner
deep and challenging work: I am crying, gluing, painting, furi- enemies into allies. What seemed to be my weaknesses are really
ously writing, tearing things off, rewriting, all in an explosion my strengths. Like a soul map, my pages allow me to see more
of emotion and expression, so I don’t have time to judge it or clearly and more deeply the path to the real me. I have been
hold it back. This tangible act of revelation has had a powerfully saving my life in extreme journals since 1987, page after page,
transformative effect on my life. The ancient Greeks said it is our book after book.

yourself radiate light.

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Having spent a lifetime of examining our reflection, we
are used to what we look like in a mirror. Psychologists have discovered
that we rearrange our features to match what we see in the mirror
with what we envision in our heads. Often, we dislike a photograph
Photographic “because it looks nothing like me!” This is the mirror phenomenon
in action. We dislike the image because it is dissimilar to the image
Self- we hold of ourselves in our mind’s eye. What we see in our mind’s
eye is incredibly important on many levels and provides a rich area

Portraiture for exploration. You can use the mirror phenomenon to your advantage
for your art most easily through photographic self-portraits.

Describe the photo of yourself you like the most and why:

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If tomorrow were infinite in its length, and money were no object, what ten things would you learn to do?
d

“While there is perhaps a province in which the


photograph can tell us nothing more than what we
see with our own eyes, there is another in which it
e proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.”
—Dorothea Lange

Melanie Komisarski
examines parts of
herself, both literally
and figuratively,
through self-portraiture.

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In this journal, I focused
strictly on self-portraiture.
Below each letter on the
cover, a self-portrait image
peeks through.

Feeling shy?
Try
• wearing hats and
sunglasses
• photographing the
back of your head
• looking off to the side
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You are the sum of your life experiences. Create a timeline of your life across
a journal spread. List at least one event for each five-year span.

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Pay attention to the scents of your day: coffee, asphalt, baby smells, pencil lead, toothpaste, leaves. Journal,
In this journal spread, I explore duality, noting with
certain irony the two-faced Roman god, Janus, who
is the god of beginnings, endings, doorways, and
also the month of January, my birth month.

using the colors those scents generate in your imagination.


visual toolbox: Photographic Self-Portraits Tip
Don’t hesitate to
Materials 1 3 6 Photoshop your images:
• camera with a timer Find a portable mirror Set the mirror just slightly Do not scold or berate adjust the contrast,
and a tripod or something to one side of the camera. yourself during this pro- invert, equalize,
• tripod, stool, or sturdy, such as a chair, Arrange yourself in a way cess. Be kind to yourself.
chair for propping posterize, crop,
stool, or even a stack of that pleases you. Take Appreciate yourself. Feel enlarge, or reduce.
up camera books, on which to rest time to practice. free to delete images, if
• mirror your camera. you need to. Be patient
4 and shoot a sizable num-
2 You can use an object ber of images. Twenty is
Take camera, tripod, and such as a chair or cushion not too many. You may
mirror to a well lit, but as a stand-in for yourself, notice a change in your
not brightly or harshly lit, so you can frame the images as you work
area. Harsh lighting is not photo properly. Be through a shooting—you
flattering, and while all brave and attempt to fill become more comfortable,
self-portraits need not be the frame with yourself. get more creative, just as
flattering, getting comfort- Later, you can include the you would if you were only
able with self-portraits is physical setting, because the photographer and not
easier when you start with it also includes information both photographer and
images that are uplifting. about you, but do it with model. As you become
Think of the lighting you intention. more accustomed to your
need as the light you’d see own image as the subject
on a bright but overcast 5 matter, you will be more
day; the light is plentiful Press the timer button or comfortable in your role
but without stark, strong the shutter. as photographer and more
shadows. comfortable with the many
ways you may appear:
happy, sad, frustrated,
relaxed, sullen, gentle.

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Bee Shay peers out from a page v
in a self-portrait art journal.
I

M









“The whole is greater than


the sum of its parts.”
—Dr. Russell Ackoff

visual toolbox: More Than the Sum of Our Parts

A fun way to ease into self-portraiture is to take photographs of manipulate further with mark-making media, acrylic paint, and
your “parts”—your hands covered in paint, smiling eyes, an ear rubber alphabet stamps.
dangling a favorite earring, the curve of your neck, a close-up of Make a list of ideas for parts to photograph. This process is easier
the back of your head, or your bare feet. If you feel intimidated if you keep your camera handy in your bag. Eventually, if you desire,
by even that much self-scrutiny, opt for photographing things you can compile these pieces into a self-portrait journal. In this
that are with you daily or often: a favorite bag or purse on your instance, you would vary the way you use them: ink-jet transfers,
shoulder or with the contents on display; your favorite cowboy for example, transparencies, or printing on rice paper. You can
boots; your dresser top; or objects you treasure. Work with further manipulate the pages in your journal with mark-making,
straight photographs, or try using ink-jet image transfers that you automatic writing (see pg 29), collage, and text.

Our lives are made up of eras, spans of time—childhood, adolescence, young


adulthood. Think about the eras in your life—what original names would you
give them?

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Create visual rhythm on a page, by making multiple copies of the same image in the same or varying sizes or
visual toolbox:
Ink-Jet Transfer

Materials 1
• camera Print an image of your
choice onto JetPrint
• ink-jet printer Multiproject paper or

by cutting a photocopy into strips and gluing the strips with varied spacing across the page.
• JetPrint Multiproject other inexpensive glossy
paper ink-jet photo paper. Trim
any excess paper, leaving
• water approximately ½" (1.25
• wooden spoon cm) around the image.
• printmaking paper Set aside.

• rubber alphabet stamps


2
• inkpad Using a spray bottle,
• acrylic paints dampen the receptor
paper surface with water.
• pencil Blot with paper towels and
• china marker repeat the spraying and
blotting process
once more.

3
Using the fine spray
setting on the spray
bottle, spray the paper
lightly. There should be
no puddles, only a fine,
even coating of spray on
the surface. Place your
image face down on the
receptor surface. Hold it
in place with the fingertips
of one hand and use the
other hand to rub the back
of the image firmly with
the bottom of a wooden
spoon or with a bone
er folder. Work across the
e, entire surface of the back
of the image.

4
Work quickly, because if
the paper dries, the image
transfer paper will adhere
to your receptor surface.
Check the work by lifting
a corner of the image,
while continuing to hold
it in place. Once satisfied
with the transfer, remove
the ink-jet photo paper.
Continue to work the
image using pencils, a
china marker, or acrylic
paints. Add text, if desired,
using alphabet stamps.

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In this journal spread,
artist Bee Shay created
a great deal of texture by
using patina on paper.

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Examine two or three recent pieces of work. How do they overlap? (For example, •
is it the medium used, the color palette, the collage elements?) •

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Put things that make sounds between your pages: waxed paper, glassine, crumpled tissue, wrinkled paper bags,
visual toolbox: Patina on Paper Tips
If you are covering a larger
This technique will not simply mimic the look of patina on metal; the products surface area, you can save
actually form a patina on metal. Modern Options metal paints have metal flakes money by applying a base coat
in them, which react with the patina solution, creating a real patina surface. The of metallic spray paint in the
same metal as the Surfacer
patina solution will also work on copper or brass sheet and mesh. I enjoy teach- paint. The second coat should
ing this technique because the products offer many possibilities! then be the Surfacer paint,
which can be sprayed with
Materials 1 patina solution.
Pour some Patina Green 3
• heavyweight paper, Apply a second coat of You can also apply the second
such as printmaking (or Blue) into a small spray
bottle. Set spray bottle the Surfacer paint, but coat of Surfacer to specific
or watercolor paper, cut before this second coat spots of the object being
to mist.
or torn to desired size dries, immediately begin painted and apply the patina
• Modern Options 2 spraying the painted paper solution only to those spots.
Copper, Bronze, or Shake the container of with the patina solution.
Gold Surfacer paint Modern Options Copper or Allow to dry. Additional
Gold Surfacer paint thor- coats can be applied to
• Modern Options
corrugated paper.

oughly. Pour some onto a build up the patina on the


Patina Green or paper. Important note:
disposable plate. Working
Patina Blue patina will only appear
quickly, cover the paper
• disposable brush with one coat of Surfacer where the patina solution
paint. Allow it to dry. comes into contact with
• disposable plate
the wet Surfacer paint.
• small spray bottle This is one of those situ-
ations where less is not
more; more is more!

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taking a closer look: Melanie Sage

Another way to ease into self-portraiture is to make use of significant images of ourselves from childhood
and work them into a journal page about ourselves. Like many artists, Melanie Sage has made use of child-
hood photos to help her explore childhood experiences and, by doing so, she creates a revealing self-portrait.

I loved seeing your journals in a stack, the covers similar yet differ- The books aren’t limited by theme; they hit whatever is going
ent. The repetition emphasized your commitment to art journaling. on for me at that place in time. I always do a table of contents
Could you tell us about your working style? Are you a daily art in my books when I am finished. I think this is another way of
journaler? Are your books limited to an area of exploration, or deepening my personal understanding of my experience, and
are the topics in your books those that are simply current for you? doing it at the end allows me some distance. I might have been
All my books start out with the same base. I bought a stack of very confused while working on a page, but I go back and label
these books at the dollar store, shiny Back Street Boys books, a the page “growing” when I revisit it. I have new insight.
pop band from the 1990s. After rebinding each of the books with These books are personal dialogues for me; they help me work
heavier paper and covering them, I created a starting place. I love through a thing. I usually spend about four hours on a spread, so
that all the books are the same size, each book like a volume in a it is meditative. I am thinking about something that is going on
series. I also keep the books purposefully short, about forty pages. for me, and focus playfully on that topic for hours. When I say
I like the books to cover a short period of time, a snippet of my playfully, I don’t mean the topics are light—they are often intense.
life. This is especially helpful when I am going through a difficult But art creates brain connections for me, I think, that allow me to
time, because finishing a book can feel like closure—I can “put consider a problem in ways I haven’t thought about before, and I
away” that experience (literally and figuratively). I also tend to can make better sense of it all. And it’s cathartic, too. If I can get
look back at my past journals, basing them on what I was going it all out on paper, it helps me to make better decisions.
through at the time; “this is my ‘choosing a job’ journal, this is my
‘relocation’ journal.”

Talismans are powerful, but many of us have ordinary objects in our pockets
and bags that are always with us. List three objects that are nearly always
with you. What’s the story behind these objects?

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What is your typical way of beginning a page? I am working on a journal. When my page feels done or almost

Use masking tape to tape off a grid on a journal page. Place the tape at odd angles. Use the sections of
I never really preplan a page or have a vision for what it will be. done, it often needs a unifying force to hold it all together. So,
But I often start with getting color on the page. I love Peerless I will use one or two colors of paint around the page, to create
watercolors. The colors are so bold and so easy to use. I often put some balance. I am working toward balance in art and in life.
different blocks of color on my page, and that gives me an oppor- I try hard not to censor my journaling, but I do still have
tunity to organize my thoughts into the different blocks later, internal sensors. There are things I am not ready to put onto
if I choose. Sometimes, they disappear with the next layer. paper, even for myself. In one of my books, I wrote, “once you say
When I sit down to journal, I often have something going on the words out loud you have to do something about it.” Some-
in my head, something I know I want to journal about. If I don’t times I am not yet ready for action; I can’t put the words on paper.
know what I am going to write about, I will often start with child- But I have a philosophy about sharing my pages and the struggles.
hood photos of myself. I think this helps me meditate on who I I want other women to know that we all struggle, we deal with
am, get in touch with the child in me, think about my most basic similar hurts and crises. Maybe it’s a bit of a reaction to the
needs, and consider the process of growing up. If I am stuck, I’ll “scrapbook happy” pages, the ones that highlight the trips to
go through words from junk mail and scraps. When I find some Disneyland, where everyone is happy all the time. Don’t misun-
words that appeal to me, I cut them out and glue them down. derstand, I love happy family scrapbooks, but I think it shields
Everything else just comes one layer after another. I keep a scrap/ part of the picture. I hope that, through sharing my pages, other
collage box (OK, lots of them!), and I’ll pull one of those out when women might feel more whole and less alone in the world.

the grid to create a series of minicollages about one topic.


.

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Although photographs are the most accessible way

Self-Portraiture to make a self-portrait, an artist can be use any other media to


create a self-portrait. Small sketches and paintings can be worked
into art journal pages on personal topics or be the focus of the
Using Other Media page itself.

Ruth Fiege uses images of herself


over the years in this journal page
spread, in which mixed-media
paintings provide the central focal
image set and are repeated in the
background for a sense of history.

“Anyone who says you can’t see a thought simply doesn’t know art.”
—Wynetka Ann Reynolds

T
o
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Draw or collage a silhouette to represent yourself. Then create imaginary w
w
organs to represent your inner life. Brainstorm a list of those organs. th
u

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Zorana Stanojkovic includes
Self-portrait sketches a self-portrait painting as
by Diana Trout part of a mixed-media page.

Turn photos of people and pets into paper dolls for in your journal. Use catalogs and clip art to redo
their wardrobes.

This piece by Leighanna Light is


one of a series contained in an art
journal entitled One. It is based on
the concept that we are all one.
The images, including this one,
were created by filling the journal
with large faces and then working
them over and over, until they were Mary Ann Moss used a self-portrait
unrecognizable. stencil to create these art journal
pages. See page 38 for information
on the techniques used to create a
portrait stencil.

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visual toolbox: Blind Contour Drawing
Blind contour drawing is sometimes called continuous line drawing. Although blind contour drawing is
often taught as part of learning to draw, there is a continuum of skills involved in the process, when the
artist begins to place internal lines in the drawing. The contour drawings by Shirley Ende-Saxe (below
and opposite) are of the more complex variety. She worked into the image after completing it, and then
incorporated her drawing into a mixed-media art journal page.

1
To begin, place a mirror in
front of you, so that you can
see your face.

2
Place your paper or sketch-
book on the table. Because
you are not to look at your
paper as you draw, you
might need to place your
sketchbook on your lap
or even under the table to
avoid cheating.

3
Fix your eyes on your image
in the mirror. Choose a point
to begin your drawing and
place your pencil or pen on
the paper. Without looking
down, begin to draw the
outline of your face, very
slowly, in a steady, continuous
line without lifting the pencil
or looking at the paper.

4
Think of your line as a lasso,
as you begin to work inside
the outline of your face, and
lasso in your eyes, mouth,
and nose. You may look at
the paper to place an internal
feature, but once you begin
to draw it, don’t look at
the paper.

Living through adolescence can be bewildering, confusing, painful, astonishing,


and often set us on a particular life path. List some key words to describe
your adolescence, and pair them with adjectives and colors.

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Make a page full of pencil or charcoal marks. Now go through and erase parts of the marks. Outline or
change the direction of the marks, using your eraser. Notice how powerful removal can be?

This mixed-media art journal piece


by Shirley Ende-Saxe is constructed
around a contour drawing.

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visual toolbox: Carving a Self-Portrait into a Printing Block
Materials 1
• carving block, either Place your photocopied
image face down onto
linoleum block or softer
your carving material.
carving material, such
Using a Chartpak color-
as Mastercarve or less blender pen or a rag
Speedy-Cut dipped in acetone, rub the
• linoleum block carving back of the photocopy,
tool and blades transferring the image to
• Chartpak colorless your carving material.
blender pen or finger-
nail polish remover 2
Linoleum carving blades
• toner photocopy of a come in different sizes.
photograph of yourself Use a larger gouge blade
that you have altered in to clear large areas, and
Photoshop, according a smaller V blade to carve
to the instructions on detailed areas.
page 38, and reduced or
enlarged as needed, to 3
fit your carving block Carve away the white
areas and leave behind
• liquid acrylic paints the black areas. This
or water-soluble creates a positive of the
block-printing ink image. Carving away the
• brayer black areas, and leaving
the white areas creates a
• glass plate negative of the image.

4
When you are finished
with your carving block,
print a test image. To do
this, squeeze a line of
paint onto a glass plate
and roll a brayer across
the paint until the roller on
the brayer is coated with
an even layer of paint (not
too thick).

5
Roll this paint onto your
carved image. Place a
piece of paper over the
Joe Ludwig carved coated carved image and
his self-portrait onto
this linoleum block.
burnish. Lift the paper
off the image to view
your print.

Even when we are unhappy with our appearance, we have aspects we like. List
your three best body parts.

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Make a color transparency of a journal page and attach it to that journal page, but slightly off-kilter.

Joe Ludwig incorporates a variety of


visual imagery that has significant per-
sonal meaning into a watercolor painting,
over which he has printed a self-portrait,
made with a carved linoleum block.

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Found throughout history in literature and mythology, archetypes
are an idealized model of a person. The Hero, the Warrior, the Mystic, and the
Personal Monster are examples of archetypes commonly seen in mythology and literature.
Carl Jung developed a psychological theory involving a framework of archetypes,

Archetypes such as the mother, the child, the self, the shadow, and the hero.
Artists often have a pantheon of personal archetypes they use, sometimes
unknowingly, to represent themselves in their artwork. Sometimes, the archetype
is a particular self-portrait image. Other times, it involves a particular image that
repeats itself in the artist’s work. Think about your art journals. Are there images
that repeat themselves? Eyes? Wings? Birds? Hands?
Interestingly, Gestalt psychological theory offers up the idea that, in interpreting
dreams, we are everything present in our dreams. If we dream we are lost in a forest
and attacked by a bear, we are the forest, the bear, and ourselves. Examining the
dream from these various perspectives gives us insight into our dream. The same
might be applied to the images and content that artists repeat.
If we examine the objects that appear in our work repeatedly, and look at their
symbolism, we may begin to see connections between those objects and ourselves.
For example, I am drawn to birds, wings, feathers, and nests. When I look at the
symbolism of birds, wings, and feathers I find flight, freedom, escape, soaring, and
perhaps even, by the use of a single feather or found feathers, the loss of flight and,
therefore, freedom. When I look at birds and nests, I find that the symbolism of
home and family applies directly to where I am in my life. When we know why we
Nell Morningstar created a are drawn to particular imagery, we can begin to use these images with intention
series of personal tarot cards
around specific archetypes. and give our work greater meaning.

List five personal archetype symbols you regularly use.

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s

Carol Parks created

Label an envelope with the words “visual feast”, and adhere the envelope in your journal. Fill it.
a tarot of archetypes
inside an art journal.
The self-portrait image
in the right-hand card
is an image that she
uses repeatedly.

g
t

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul,


and paints his own nature into his pictures.”
—Henry Ward Beecher

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S

K
n
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c h a pte r

to the thick layers of gel medium, will be slightly stretchy, allowing you to distort the image, if you wish.
between coats. Once dry, wet the back and rub the paper off with your fingers. The image, which has adhered
Apply five to eight coats of acrylic medium to a toner-based or magazine image and allow the image to dry
Spirituality and Dreams
Many artists explore in their art journals concepts that escape
concrete definition.
Spirituality and faith—subjects that are topic to mine in an art journal. Fantastical,
difficult to articulate with just words and that disturbing, odd or sensuous, our dreams are
are often a minefield when discussing them with image-dense and loaded with content. Examin-
friends—are wonderful topics to explore in the ing our dreams visually, responding to feelings
pages of an art journal. Provocative questions, and content, can reveal a great deal about
controversial thoughts, and deeply held beliefs situations in our waking lives.
can be explored and expounded upon. Tenets of Our art journal becomes a place in which we
faith can be honored or challenged in the relative can mine our subconscious for answers, speak
privacy of journal pages. with God, connect to the universe, send prayers
Dreams, their ephemeral or mystical nature, aloft, or manifest abundance into our lives.
and their hidden meanings are also an interesting

“What art offers is space—a certain breathing


room for the spirit.”
—John Updike

Katie Kendrick explores the


nature of a dream in her
large atlas art journal.

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As artists, we are aware of a creative force inside of ourselves.
Many of us, regardless of religion or faith, believe in the idea of a soul and feel that
Faith and we are part of some larger plan or energy. Some artists explore an awareness of a
spiritual force on the pages of their art journals. Others make use of iconographic

Spirituality symbolism to connect their work to ideas they feel others will understand, without
necessarily having an allegiance to a particular religion. One example of this is
the use of Madonna imagery. While the Madonna has a particular significance in
Christianity and in Catholicism, it has also been used to represent the Mother
aspect of the goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone), to connect a work with the spiritual
nature of motherhood itself, or to draw attention to one of the common aspects
of womanhood.
Many of us were raised in a household that followed a particular religious faith.
Some faiths encompass so much of daily life, determining holidays, foods served,
schools attended, customs practiced, or modes of dress, that they move beyond
religion to culture.
In these cases, family history is intensely intertwined with the religion of our
childhood, and faith becomes part of our past, our memories, and our present life.

How is your life touched by your faith or spirituality? Does this appear in
your art journal?

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Take a clear vinyl slide or photo protector ring-binder sheet and plan to attach the hole-punched edge to the
outside edge of your page. Create a page in your journal and fill the pockets. Attach the vinyl pocket page to
l

“The windows of my soul I throw wide open to the sun.”


—John Greenleaf Whittier, MY PSALMS

Like many other female artists,


Ruth Fiege and Traci Bunkers have
made use of the Madonna image
in their art journal pages. Traci also
makes use of images of Ganesha,
a Hindu deity, whose most common
aspects include Remover of
Obstacles and Lord of Intelligence.

your journal page.

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t
H
in
p
w
fo

b
s
e
M
w

o
b

a
t
il
fo
a
w
I
t

Los Dias del Milagro, an art


journal by Loretta Marvel.

Create a prayer, positive affirmation, or request of the universe in your art


journal.

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taking a closer look: Loretta Marvel

Create a page to be touched. Use fabric, textured gesso, or interesting handmade paper. Maybe fun fur is
Having known you for a few years, I am aware that faith is an in my art, in the natural world, and in the strong matriarchal
integral part of your life. Your faith seems to also be an integral legacy of my family that has me believe that all the rich, potent
part of both your culture and your personal history. I was personalities that have gone before me still linger somewhere,
wondering if you might tell us a little bit about the significance, somehow, waiting for me to catch up with them.
for you, of the title of your Los Dias del Milagro journal? I credit my Catholic-school upbringing with giving me a rich
My faith is woven through every page of this book, stitch love of ritual and liturgical ceremony. The relics of the saints,
by stitch. Or rather, my continuing pilgrimage towards faith is the blessed medals, the novenas, the rosaries, the scapulars,
stitched on every page. I don’t think faith is a static thing that you the little white First Communion prayer book, the drawing of
either have or you don’t. I was very heartened to read that even the heavy folds of the velvet drapes that left me in the darkness
Mother Theresa had droughts of faith and persisted in her good of the confessional and my sins, and the lighting of the Easter
works despite them. I have felt at times like that lizard on the fire are all symbols that reverberated the mystery of faith. The
first spread, scrambling on my belly through the desert, in search majesty of faith is found both in the first breaths of my new-
of my soul. I have envied those who are like the big, fat, lazy borns and as witness to my mother cradling my father’s head
bumbles, sipping faith from every flower. as he took his last breath.
My formal religious education is as a cradle Catholic raised in I found the humanity of faith when I was a eucharistic
a conservative and traditional Italian American family. I don’t minister, standing on the side of the altar, facing my friends
think my parents ever missed church on Sunday unless they were and fellow parishioners, the host in my hand and placing it
ill. After pulling away from the church as a teen, I returned to a in wave after wave of hands, old, young, slender, fat, graceful,
formal, active church-going parish life over the course of raising gnarled, calloused, and gentle, with the words, “The body of
a family. My husband converted to Catholicism on our fifteenth Christ” meaning, to me, both the host and the hands waiting

the answer, or maybe it’s a small piece of flat, smooth stone.


wedding anniversary. My faith, however, has little to do with what to receive. All of these things make me treasure everyday and
I hear at Mass or what the church professes. Currently, I am not a consider everyday to be Los Dias del Milagro.
traditional, active church-goer. My faith is bound up in my family,

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L
im
e
y
Using her own poetic writings in
as a focal point, Loretta
Marvel visually explores the
humanity of her faith. n
t
f
f

s
s
m
a
Create a list of names for the major arcane of your personal tarot. Be as s
funny or as serious as you desire.

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Tab in pages to a bound journal using packing tape or by gluing down an edge.
Los Dias del Milagro is a large book, which could be seen as nichos. Almost all the materials used in the book are religious
imposing, yet the pages are intricate and intimate, rendered artifacts and household detritus from my grandparent’s house,
even more so by the writings. Could you tell us a little more about all of which have enormous spiritual energy for me. I wanted the
your process? What came first, writings, art, or was it a hand- book to actively involve the reader through the narrative and the
in-hand process? intricate artwork. I want the reader’s experience to be that of a pil-
The process of making the book was very organic. I began with grim on a journey, with each page being a step on the pilgrimage.
no real idea in mind, other than that I wanted to make a book The paintings in Los Dias del Milagro are luminous. Can you tell
that would express both the highs and lows of my struggle with us which media you used to get such color?
faith. All the inspiration from the book was derived from Mexican
Most of the pages and the cover of the book are painted with
folk art, the crosses, retablos, and enameled art that I collect.
Golden Heavy Body Acrylics. They dry to a matte, velvety finish
I find that art is extraordinarily powerful for my personal
that reminds me of milk paint. The metallic paints are Golden
spirituality. I constructed the book, which was an oversized
Glazes, including the teardrops on the front cover. The page with
scrapbooking album bought on sale after Christmas at a Hall-
the border that resembles mosaics was done with pastels sealed
mark store (there were three others, and now I regret giving them
with a fixative.
away!). I had never worked with cutting out windows in books,
so that was my first endeavor, and I wanted them to resemble

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Dreams provide fascinating art journal content. Mysterious, rich i
in visual imagery, we often wake with the sense that a particular dream needs to be
Dreams examined more closely. A quick search of the Internet will provide a variety of ways to
examine the meanings of our dreams and even associate the symbols with numbers
W
v
we might use to play the lottery! o

o
D
s
jo
a
c
it
o

In King and Queen of the Lopes,


Leighanna Light describes a wild
dream, in which she was queen
of a crazy mail art project. As she
created the Queen of the Lopes in
her journal, Leighanna decided the
queen needed a king to assist her.

Have you a recurring dream? Describe this dream. Does this dream appear in
conjunction with events in your life?

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insight activity: Dream Characters

o When you awake with a dream that is puzzling or intrigues you


visually, grab a piece of paper and jot down a quick description
of it. Then, before your dream fades, make a list of all the
“characters” of your dream, giving a quick visual description
of each character. Later, in your art space, consider your notes.
Determine which two characters in your dream were most
significant. Bring these characters into existence on your art
journal pages. Most likely, you will not be able to re-create them
as they appeared in your dream. Go instead for the flavor of the
characters, examining your stash for ephemera, papers, and
items that fit the character. Tell your story with words right
on the page.

Gravity. Use it. Spill coffee or paint onto a page, even one in progress.
In her art journal, Michelle
Remy chronicles the mes-
sage found within a dream.

Michelle Remy’s art journal


page was created around
a Rainer Maria Rilke quote
that she adapted: “Art is
the way we surprise God
in [her] hiding place.”

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Mary Ann Moss layers spray A
paint onto blank art paper th
using stencils and adds a
collage elements to create a s
place in which to explore the p
content of her recent dreams.

v
“Dreams say what they mean, but they T
don’t say it in daytime language.” s
w
—Gail Godwin to

M




What is the weirdest dream you can recall? •

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As part of creating a page spread
that looks at the mother and maiden
aspects of the goddess, I used
scrapbook paper altered with spray
paints and stencils.

Create a visual joke, something that makes you smile each time you see it.
visual toolbox: Altered Scrapbooking Papers Tips
• Experiment with working
This technique gives you a head start in creating layered backgrounds. Using some of the amazing from light colors to dark
scrapbooking papers available at local craft stores and scrapbooking specialty stores, and working and the reverse.
with the wide range of spray paint colors and stencils that are commercially available, it is possible • Experiment with metallic
to create a layered background that can communicate mystery, opulence, and even gothic horror. paint on dark backgrounds
and black paint on metallic
Materials 1 2 3 papers.
• spray paint in several Working outdoors, place Select a stencil with Allow to dry a little, and • Use colors similar to, but
colors your box on the ground which to begin. Spray remove the stencil. slightly darker than, the
or on an old table. Place the reverse side of the color palette of the paper.
• repositionable a small piece of masking stencil with reposition- 4
adhesive tape along the white edge able adhesive and place Allow to paint to dry
• Look in craft stores for
of your scrapbooking the stencil across your completely, and add a spray paint in a wider
• several stencils range of colors than what
paper, and tape the paper paper. Place scrap paper new stencil. Repeat from
• scrapbooking papers to the bottom of your box. around the edges of the step 2 with another color might be available at
• respirator (mask, Wear a mask to avoid stencil, where the paper is of paint. hardware stores.
available at hard- breathing in spray paint. exposed. Tape the paper
ware stores) into place, so that only
the paper to be sprayed is
• large cardboard box visible through the stencil
• scrap paper openings. Choose a paint
• masking tape color, and spray. Spray
in short bursts—think
• latex gloves puffs of paint, not lavish
coatings.

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Appendix: Vision Deck
Photocopy these words onto card stock, then cut each word out following the frame. For more about using this Vision Deck, see page 30.

cavort incandescence glacial

machination grit transcend

promise silence gift

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evolve vivid renew

salutary direct fog

flourish fugue collude

spill cavernous expand

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envelop encompass descend

resplendent reverberate gravitate

expand silken invisible

manner intent antagonize

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object defend embroider

entangle temptation suffuse

round consequence ingenious

Add your own words on these blank cards.

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Contributors
Tina Abbott Katie Kendrick Michelle Remy a
http://throughthekeyhole.typepad.com http://joyouslybecoming.typepad.com www.picturetrail.com/2alteredhands
P
Nina Bagley Melanie Komisarski Lesley Riley N
www.ornamental.typepad.com http://musings.navylane.com www.lalasland.com o
L
Nikki Blackwood Liz Lamoreux Kelly Rae Roberts
w
www.pdxnik.blogspot.com http://bepresentbehere.blogspot.com http://www.kellyraeroberts.blogspot.com
www.kellyraeroberts.com M
Traci Bunkers Leighanna Light r
www.tracibunkers.com http://lklight.blogspot.com Rhonda Roebuck J
rhondaroebuck@mac.com s
Elizabeth Bunsen Joseph Ludwig
http://elizabethbunsen.typepad.com joseph15143@yahoo.com Melanie Sage W
www.melaniesage.com
W
Juliana Coles Julie Madsen
r
www.meandpete.com jmadsen618@aol.com Tricia Scott
www.a-little-birdie.blogspot.com w
Shirley Ende-Saxe Loretta Marvel w
http://shirleyendesaxe.typepad.com http://artjournaler.typepad.com/ Brenda Shackleford
pomegranatesandpaper/ beenebag@yahoo.com C
Ruth Fiege
wegerjohn@msn.com Syd McCutcheon Bee Shay w
http://sheepfloozy.blogspot.com www.beeshay.typepad.com
Sarah Fishburn J
www.sarahfishburn.com Karen Michel Carla Sonheim P
www.karenmichel.com www.carlasonheim.com w
Amy Hanna
w
http://amyhanna.etsy.com Bridgette Guerzon Mills Zorana Stanojkovic
www.guerzonmills.com http://zoranaland.blogspot.com
Sandra Hardee a
http://skhardee.blogspot.com Corey Moortgat Diana Trout r
http://coreymoortgat.blogspot.com www.dianatrout.com
Minnie Helvey P
www.herminnie.blogspot.com Mary Ann Moss Nell Morningstar Ubbelohde N
http://dispatchfromLA.typepad.com www.nellmorningstar.blogspot.com D
Tracie Lyn Huskamp S
http://TheRedDoor-Studio.blogspot.com Carol Parks C
www.carolparks.com R

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Resources

art supplies books magazines


Patina Solutions Alphabetica Somerset Studio
Novacan Black for Solder and Lead: various Lynne Perrella, Quarry Books, 2006 www.stampington.com
online stained-glass supply retailers Altered Books, Collaborative Journals, Cloth Paper Scissors
Liver of sulfur: www.misterart.com; and Other Adventures in Book Making www.quiltingarts.com
www.riogrande.com Holly Harrison, Quarry Books, 2005 Art & Life
Modern Options: various online art-supply Artist Journals and Sketchbooks: www.teeshamoore.com
retailers, Michaels craft stores Exploring and Creating Personal Pages
Lynne Perrella, Quarry Books, 2005
JAX Patina solutions: various online
suppliers Collage for the Soul
Holly Harrison, Quarry Books, 2003
Wire Mesh The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery:
Mixed-Media Techniques for Collage,
Wiremesh brand: various online art supply
Altered Books, Artist Journals, and More
retailers
Karen Michel, Quarry Books, 2005
www.volcanoarts.biz
Fabric Art Journals: Making,
www.animadesigns.com Sewing, and Embellishing Journals
from Cloth and Fibers
Chartpak Colorless Blenders Pam Sussman, Quarry Books, 2005
www.artcity.com Making Journals by Hand: 20 Creative
Projects for Keeping Your Thoughts
Jetprint Multiproject Jason Thompson, Quarry Books, 2000
Photo Paper Making Memory Books by Hand:
www.amazon.com 22 Projects to Keep and Share
Kristina Feliciano, Quarry Books, 1999
www.jetprintphoto.com
Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques
for Photographic Imagery
artists to Angela Cartwright, Quarry Books, 2007
research Mixed-Media Collage: An Exploration
Peter Beard of Contemporary Artists, Methods,
Nancy Chunn and Materials
Dan Eldon Holly Harrison, Quarry Books, 2007
Sabrina Ward Harrison Mixed-Media Nature Journals
Candy Jernigan L.K. Ludwig, Quarry Books, 2008
Robert Rauschenberg 1000 Artist Journal Pages
Dawn DeVries Sokol, Quarry Books, 2008

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Acknowledgments A
There is something exhilarating about writing a enough to have had as my project manager for two books. She is L
book about a much-loved topic. Art journaling has led me on the book’s shepherd, solving, fixing, coddling, all with infinite c
a journey that I could never have imagined. Friendships that kindness. (
have spanned nearly a decade were forged over discussions of art To my beloved, thank you for all of it: the time, the space, and i
journaling techniques. Moving from conversations about paper the support. I’m tickled beyond words to give the world a peek at a
and paints, we shared about children, husbands, partners, and our your artistic gifts. You are my heart. c
daily lives. Heartaches and incredible joys graced our art journal I have to also thank my moms for occupying the littles while li
pages and our emails. I’m honored to show the work of some of the manuscript was being written. Bless you.
these gifted artists in these pages. To my littles: When I was pregnant with my first child,
These contributing artists risked something of themselves everyone told me how quickly time would go by, and I nodded,
in sharing their personal art journal work with the larger world. understanding, despite not knowing. I now know, and time is
Thank you for allowing me to show the world a little of who passing so quickly. I cannot stop time, nor can I keep you from
you are. growing up. But, I can record my heart on the pages of my art
I owe a debt of gratitude to my editor, Mary Ann Hall; her journals, chronicling the love I feel for you and my amazement at
patience and her remarkable talent for shaping the book was such your beauty. I love you.
a gift. I also want to thank Betsy Gammons, whom I am fortunate

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About the Author
L.K. Ludwig creates art and chases her three small it content rich and personally meaningful. L.K.’s first book
children around in a Victorian Foursquare in a very small town with Quarry was Mixed-Media Nature Journals, New Techniques
(pop. 4,023) in Western Pennsylvania. Many weekends are spent for Exploring Nature, Life, and Memories. Her work has been
in the woods and at the river where family memories and art featured in a number of books and magazines and shown in
are made while the Allegheny flows by. With a strong belief in various galleries. L.K. enjoys teaching at various venues across
creating around what she knows—nature, parenting, love, and the United States You may contact her through her blog at
life—these elements seep deeply into L.K.’s artwork, making http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com.

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Notes

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© 2008 by Quarry Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without
written permission of the copyright owners. All images in this book have been
reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned, and no
responsibility is accepted by the producer, publisher, or printer for any infringement
of copyright or otherwise, arising from the contents of this publication. Every effort
has been made to ensure that credits accurately comply with information supplied.
We apologize for any inaccuracies that may have occurred and will resolve inaccurate
or missing information in a subsequent reprinting of the book.

First published in the United States of America by


Quarry Books, a member of
Quayside Publishing Group
100 Cummings Center
Suite 406-L
Beverly, Massachusetts 01915-6101
Telephone: (978) 282-9590
Fax: (978) 283-2742
www.quarrybooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ludwig, L. K.
True vision : authentic art journaling / L.K. Ludwig.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-59253-426-0
1. Photographs--Conservation and restoration. 2. Scrapbook journaling. 3. Photograph
albums. I. Title.
TR465.L93 2008
745.593--dc22
2007048948
CIP

ISBN-13: 978-1-59253-426-5
ISBN-10: 1-59253-426-0

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Page 26: From PIPPI LONGSTOCKING by Astrid Lindgren, translated by Florence


Lamborn, copyright 1950 by Viking Press, Inc., renewed © 1978 by Viking Penguin, Inc.
Used by permission of Viking Penguin, A Division of Penguin Young Readers Group,
A Member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.
All rights reserved.

Design: Laura H. Couallier, Laura Herrmann Design


Cover photo: Glenn Scott Photography
Interior photos: Al Mallette, Lightstream

Printed in Singapore

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